Marena
Feminine
Marena is a modern American name and also, by coincidence, a Slavic goddess. Marena or Marzanna is the figure of winter and death in Polish, Czech and Slovak folk practice, drowned or burned in effigy each spring — but the American name almost certainly has nothing to do with her.
How old is the name Marena?
Marena first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Marena alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 1,200 people named Marena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marena most popular?
Marena peaked in 1994, reaching #1890 nationally. Today it ranks #7491, 5,601 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Marina to Marena
Our story of Marena
It is worth being careful when a modern American name happens to match something old. Marzanna is real: her effigy is still carried out of villages and drowned on the first day of spring in parts of Poland and Slovakia, a custom recorded since at least the fifteenth century and probably much older. The name is also spelled Marena and Morana. But an American Marena born in 1994, the year the name peaks, sits in a cluster of names built from a Mar- stem and an -ena ending — Marena, Milena, Alena, Selena — that has nothing Slavic about it, and the honest reading is the ordinary one. The temptation to attach an ancient figure to a modern name is exactly how false etymologies get started, and the useful discipline is to notice the coincidence, state it, and then leave it alone.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The American Marena has no documented source. It is most likely a respelling of Marina, Latin for of the sea, or a formation on the Mar- stem with the -ena ending seen in Elena, Serena and Alena. Separately, Marzanna or Marena is a genuine Slavic figure associated with winter and death, and the word is connected to a root for dying. Claiming that connection for an American Marena would be inventing an ancestry the record does not support.
How the name formed
- Marina
- Marena
Related forms: Marina · Marenna
Pronouncing Marena
muh-REE-nah
Three syllables, stress on the second. Some families say mah-REH-nah with a short second vowel, following the Spanish and Italian pattern; both are in use.
Nicknames for Marena
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
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 199475 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1890reached in 1994
- Change vs 2023
- +27.3%14 in 2025, from 11
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.
Marena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marina in English — related form
- Marenna in English — spelling variant
Marenas among us
people named Marena are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 114,805 born in 2025 was named Marena
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 Nneka test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Marena's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nneka climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nneka's path sketches the road Marena is walking now.
Marena sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Marena beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Marena in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is soft, three syllables, and easy to say in English or Spanish.
- Rena works as a short form and stands alone.
- It is close enough to Marina to be familiar without being it.
- Marina and Marena are constantly confused in writing.
- There is no settled meaning to give for the name.
- The pronunciation of the middle vowel varies between families.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Marena
Feminine · #7491 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Marenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Marena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marena in 2025?
- Marena ranks #7491 among US girl names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Marena?
- About 1 in every 114,805 US girls born in 2025 was named Marena — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Marena with classmates?
- Marena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Marena
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Christie#7491 · Carmelita#7491 · Jetta#7491 · Hildegard#7491 · Rickie#7491 · Billy#7491 · Angelyn#7491 · Jewell#7491
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marena? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Marena and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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