Marceline
Feminine · “little Marcus”
Marceline is the French feminine of Marcel, and behind Marcel stands the Latin Marcellus — a name worn by Romans, popes and saints long before it softened into three syllables and an -ine ending. The French poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore carried it through the nineteenth century; a small Missouri town where Walt Disney spent part of his boyhood carries it still. In the mouth it moves the way Caroline and Madeline do, ending on a long, level note.
How old is the name Marceline?
Marceline first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Marceline is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 4,800 people named Marceline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marceline most popular?
Marceline peaked in 2025, reaching #424 nationally. Today it ranks #424, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Marceline appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Marcus to Marceline
The story of Marceline
The root is Roman. Marcus was one of a small handful of first names most Roman men shared, and Marcellus was its diminutive — a name held by generals, and later by early Christian bishops and two popes, which is how it survived the fall of the empire inside the calendar of saints. French took Marcellus down to Marcel and built the feminine Marceline on top of it, while Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish shaped their own Marcellina and Marcelina from the same Latin. In English-speaking America it has been quietly on the books since the late nineteenth century, mostly through French and Creole families, and its recent climb owes a good deal to Marceline the Vampire Queen from the animated series Adventure Time.
Meaning
little Marcus — from Mars, the Roman god of war
The chain is well documented: Marcus produced the affectionate Marcellus, Marcellus gave French Marcel, and Marcel gave Marceline. Marcus itself was linked by the Romans to Mars, though the god's own name is older than Latin records and has never been explained.
How the name formed
- Marcus
- Marcellus
- Marcellinus
- Marcel
- Marceline
Related forms: Marceline · Marcellina · Marcelina · Marcelina · Marcelina · Marcellina
Pronouncing Marceline
MAR-suh-leen
Three syllables, stress on the first, ending on a long ee — the French way. Some American families say MAR-suh-line, rhyming the end with 'fine', on the pattern of Caroline. Both are in real use, so the choice is yours to make and then repeat.
Nicknames for Marceline
High
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
- 1891
- Most girls named
- 2025733 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #424reached in 2025
- Change vs 2023
- +44.3%733 in 2025, from 508
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.
Marceline in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marceline in French — same name
- Marcellina in Italian — related form
- Marcelina in Spanish — related form
- Marcelina in Polish — related form
- Marcelina in Portuguese — related form
- Marcellina in Latin — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Marcelines among us
people named Marceline are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,193 born in 2025 was named Marceline
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lynnette test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Marceline's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lynnette climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lynnette's path sketches the road Marceline is walking now.
Marceline is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Marceline is headed
Marceline looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 47% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Marceline beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Marceline in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented line running from Roman Marcus through Latin Marcellus and French Marcel, with no gaps to explain.
- Several short forms already in circulation — Marcy, Lina, Mars — so a child has options without inventing one.
- Recognizable across French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish in closely related spellings.
- Long, familiar -line ending shared with Caroline and Madeline, which helps strangers repeat it after one hearing.
- The ending is genuinely unsettled in American English: -leen and -line are both heard, which means gently correcting people for a long time.
- Expect Marcelline, Marcelina and Marcelene as misspellings, since all three are real names in other languages.
- For a stretch of years, some people will know the name first from the Adventure Time character rather than the French poet or the saints.
- It is climbing, so the near-solitary feel of it now is unlikely to be the feel of it in a decade.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Marceline
Feminine · #424 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Marcelines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,800 people named Marceline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marceline in 2025?
- Marceline ranks #424 among US girl names in 2025, with 733 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Marceline?
- About 1 in every 2,193 US girls born in 2025 was named Marceline — 733 in all.
- Will my child share the name Marceline with classmates?
- Marceline will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Marceline
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sarai#424 · Opal#423 · Willa#422 · Winter#426 · Veronica#427 · Dorothy#421 · Trinity#428 · Melissa#419
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marceline? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Marceline and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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