Maribel
Feminine · “Mary and Elizabeth”
Maribel is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 24,870 girls against 185 boys since 1880.
Maribel is Spanish shorthand for María Isabel — two of the biggest names in the language, run together into one, which Spanish does routinely and English almost never.
How old is the name Maribel?
Maribel first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Maribel alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 23,500 people named Maribel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maribel most popular?
Maribel peaked in 1980, reaching #315 nationally. Today it ranks #1652, 1,337 places below that high. See the whole 1980 chart.
Maribel appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From María Isabel to Maribel
The story of Maribel
Spanish naming has long joined two devotional names into one written form — Maribel, Marisol, Maricarmen, Maripaz — and Maribel is among the most established. It is ordinary across Spain and Latin America. Spanish-speaking families brought it to the United States, where it appears in the registers throughout the twentieth century and peaked around 1994.
Meaning
Mary and Elizabeth
A contraction of María and Isabel. María's own origin is unrecovered; Isabel comes through Elizabeth, from the Hebrew Elisheva, 'my God is an oath'. A folk reading takes it as the Latin mira bella, 'wondrously beautiful', which is attractive but not the source.
How the name formed
- María Isabel
- Maribel
Related forms: Maribel · Maribel · Marybelle
Pronouncing Maribel
mah-ree-BEL
Three syllables, stress on the third. English speakers sometimes move the stress to the first.
Nicknames for Maribel
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
- 1906
- Most girls named
- 1981662 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #315reached in 1980
- Change vs 2023
- −12.0%125 in 2025, from 142
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.
Maribel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Maribel in Spanish — same name
- Maribel in Portuguese — same name
- Marybelle in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Maribels among us
people named Maribel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 12,858 born in 2025 was named Maribel
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 Gay test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maribel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Gay climbed just as high around 1943, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Gay's path sketches the road Maribel is walking now.
Maribel 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
Where Maribel is headed
Maribel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Maribel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maribel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries two of the most significant names in European history in one word.
- It is entirely standard in Spanish, with no spelling adjustment needed.
- Mari is available as a short form used across several languages.
- The pretty mira bella reading is a folk etymology rather than the origin.
- English speakers often shift the stress to the front.
- It is closely dated to the 1990s in American records.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Maribel to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Maribel? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Maribel
Feminine · #1652 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maribels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 23,500 people named Maribel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maribel in 2025?
- Maribel ranks #1652 among US girl names in 2025, with 125 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maribel?
- About 1 in every 12,858 US girls born in 2025 was named Maribel — 125 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maribel with classmates?
- Maribel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maribel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Baker#1652 · Abbie#1652 · Hailie#1652 · Adilene#1652 · Stacy#1652 · Leilah#1652 · Aylen#1652 · Royal#1652
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maribel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maribel and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle