Marlin
Masculine · “little hawk”
Marlin is given to both — 21,172 boys and 1,662 girls since 1880. See Marlin as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Marlin is a hawk, or a fish, or a small blackbird — an English surname with a disputed root that American families read three different ways.
How old is the name Marlin?
Marlin first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Marlin alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 12,000 people named Marlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marlin most popular?
Marlin peaked in 1935, reaching #276 nationally. Today it ranks #1778, 1,502 places below that high. See the whole 1935 chart.
Marlin appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From merlin to Marlin
The story of Marlin
Merlin the falcon gave a Norman byname and then an English surname, and Marlin and Merlin both descend from it. The surname crossed into American given-name use in the nineteenth century and was reinforced by the -lin ending that Franklin, Devlin and Conklin also carry. Marlin peaked in American records around 1930.
Meaningscholars disagree
little hawk; blackbird
The surname Marlin is generally read from the Old French merlin, 'a merlin' — the small falcon — used as a byname. It may also come from merle, 'blackbird', or from a diminutive of Marl. The fish is named after the marlinspike its bill resembles, and is not the source of the name.
How the name formed
- merlin
- Marlin
Related forms: Merlin · Merlin · Marlon
Pronouncing Marlin
MAR-lin
Two syllables, stress on the first. No variation between English accents.
Nicknames for Marlin
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
- 1884
- Most boys named
- 1939369 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #276reached in 1935
- Change vs 2022
- +15.4%90 in 2025, from 78
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.
Marlin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Merlin in English — spelling variant
- Merlin in French — related form
- Marlon in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida.
Marlins among us
people named Marlin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,979 born in 2025 was named Marlin
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 Herschel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Marlin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Herschel climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Herschel's path sketches the road Marlin is walking now.
Marlin 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 Marlin is headed
Marlin should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Marlin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Marlin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The falcon reading is concrete and vivid, and the bird is genuinely striking.
- Two firm syllables that pair well with almost any surname.
- It belongs to a coherent family of -lin surname-names.
- The origin is genuinely split between a hawk, a blackbird and a diminutive.
- The fish is a strong modern association and is unrelated.
- It is strongly period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Marlin
Masculine · #1778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Marlins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,000 people named Marlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marlin in 2025?
- Marlin ranks #1778 among US boy names in 2025, with 90 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Marlin?
- About 1 in every 18,979 US boys born in 2025 was named Marlin — 90 in all.
- Will my child share the name Marlin with classmates?
- Marlin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Marlin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jamarion#1778 · Makhi#1778 · Xion#1778 · Edrick#1778 · Xyleek#1778 · Haroon#1778 · Irving#1778 · Elon#1778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marlin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Marlin 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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