Maralee
Feminine
Maralee is a double name run together, and the second half of it is one of the most used syllables in American naming — a sound that arrived from three unrelated directions and was adopted by families who had different ones in mind.
How old is the name Maralee?
Maralee first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Maralee alive today was born around 1952, making them about 73 years old. About 600 people named Maralee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maralee most popular?
Maralee peaked in 1943, reaching #1591 nationally. See the whole 1943 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Maralee
That second syllable came into American naming three separate ways and the record cannot tell them apart. It is an Old English word for a clearing, which closes dozens of English place names and surnames. It is the surname of a Confederate general, which is why it appears as a middle name across the South for a century. And it is a Chinese surname, romanized the same way, carried by a large number of American families with no connection to either of the others. A parent choosing it in the middle of the last century was drawing on whichever of those three was in their own family, and the syllable itself is neutral between them — which is unusual, and is part of why it was used so heavily.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The front is almost certainly Mary, whose Hebrew original has never been explained; the bitter reading sometimes attached to the syllable mara belongs to a different Hebrew word and not to this name. The second half has several possible sources and no single meaning.
Pronouncing Maralee
MAIR-uh-lee
Three syllables with a light stress at the front and a second at the end, because it is genuinely two names.
Nicknames for Maralee
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 194328 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1591reached in 1943
- Change vs 2011
- +16.7%7 in 2022, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Maralees among us
people named Maralee are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Maralee sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It gives a child two names and a choice between them.
- Both halves are plain and impossible to mispronounce.
- It has the warmth of an American double name without being tied to one region.
- Nearly everyone will write it as two words or as Mary Lee.
- It places her generation firmly, as double names do.
- Neither half carries a meaning that can be stated confidently.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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Maralee
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Maralees are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Maralee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maralee in 2025?
- Maralee is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Maralee with classmates?
- Maralee will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maralee? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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