Marlo
Masculine · “remains of a lake”
Marlo is given to both — 3,680 boys and 7,264 girls since 1880. See Marlo as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Marlo is Marlow shortened, and the English place name means the lake remains — a pool left behind when the water drains, which is what Marlow on the Thames sits beside.
How old is the name Marlo?
Marlo first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Marlo alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 3,100 people named Marlo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marlo most popular?
Marlo peaked in 1972, reaching #877 nationally. Today it ranks #1708, 831 places below that high. See the whole 1972 chart.
Where it comes from
From mere laf to Marlo
The story of Marlo
Marlow sits on the Thames and its name records drained marshland. Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare's contemporary and rival, carried the surname. Marlo entered American given-name use in the twentieth century for both sexes, and it appears in the registers steadily. It is in current use.
Meaning
remains of a lake
From the Old English mere, 'lake' or 'pool', and laf, 'remnant' or 'leavings' — land left after a lake has drained. Marlow in Buckinghamshire preserves it. The construction is unusual for an English place name and the reading is documented.
How the name formed
- mere laf
- Marlow
- Marlo
Related forms: Marlow · Marlowe
Pronouncing Marlo
MAR-loh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Marlo, Marlow and Marlowe are said identically.
Nicknames for Marlo
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 boys named
- 2023106 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #877reached in 1972
- Change vs 2023
- −10.4%95 in 2025, from 106
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.
Marlo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marlow in English — spelling variant
- Marlowe in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Marlos among us
people named Marlo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 17,980 born in 2025 was named Marlo
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 Levie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Marlo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Levie climbed just as high around 1908, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Levie's path sketches the road Marlo is walking now.
Marlo 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 Marlo is headed
Marlo looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 18% 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.
Marlo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Marlo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The drained-lake meaning is concrete and the construction is genuinely unusual.
- One of the major Elizabethan playwrights carries the surname.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It is thoroughly unisex in American use.
- Marlow and Marlowe are both commoner spellings.
- Marlon is close enough in sound to cause confusion.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Marlo
Masculine · #1708 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Marlos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Marlo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marlo in 2025?
- Marlo ranks #1708 among US boy names in 2025, with 95 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Marlo?
- About 1 in every 17,980 US boys born in 2025 was named Marlo — 95 in all.
- Will my child share the name Marlo with classmates?
- Marlo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Marlo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Antoine#1708 · Kainoa#1708 · Henri#1708 · Azir#1708 · Koast#1708 · Ayansh#1708 · Zuriel#1708 · Shalom#1708
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marlo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Marlo and another name?
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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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