Marlyce
Feminine
Marlyce opens with Mar and closes with -lyce, the letters of the French lycée, the word France uses for its high schools. The word goes back to the Lyceum, the grove outside Athens where Aristotle taught, and America borrowed it too, for the lecture halls of the nineteenth-century lyceum movement.
How old is the name Marlyce?
Marlyce first appears in US birth records in 1926 — 99 years ago. The typical Marlyce alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 300 people named Marlyce are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marlyce most popular?
Marlyce peaked in 1935, reaching #1606 nationally. See the whole 1935 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Marlyce
Our story of Marlyce follows its last four letters back to Athens. The Lyceum was a grove sacred to Apollo outside the city walls, and there Aristotle walked and taught, which gave French the word lycée for a school and nineteenth-century America the lyceum, a hall where towns gathered to hear traveling lecturers. Nothing says that history lies behind the name, which sits beside Mary, Alyce and Marlys. But the letters are there, a place of learning folded into the end of a name.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No meaning is documented for Marlyce. It may join Mary to Alyce, a spelling of Alice, or respell Marlys; the Lyceum resemblance is in the letters only.
Pronouncing Marlyce
mar-LEES
Usually said with the stress on the second syllable, as Alyce is when said aleece; MAR-liss, like Marlys, is another possible reading.
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
- 1926
- Most girls named
- 193522 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1606reached in 1935
- Change vs 1970
- −16.7%5 in 1971, from 6
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.
Marlyces among us
people named Marlyce are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Marlyce sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Distinct in spelling while built from familiar sounds.
- Its letters carry a real word with a long history, the lyceum of Aristotle.
- Short enough to write easily.
- The spelling does not fix the sound, and people will try MAR-lice, mar-LEES or MAR-liss.
- It will be corrected to Marlys or Marlise on forms; spelling it out becomes routine, and quick.
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Marlyce
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Marlyces are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Marlyce are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marlyce in 2025?
- Marlyce is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Marlyce with classmates?
- Marlyce will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marlyce? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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