Marshay
Feminine
Marshay is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 766 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Marshay is an American build, recorded for boys and girls alike, with no documented parent. Its front syllable is one of a set of English words that draw distinctions most people no longer make.
How old is the name Marshay?
Marshay first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Marshay alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 800 people named Marshay are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marshay most popular?
Marshay peaked in 1992, reaching #2733 nationally. See the whole 1992 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Marshay
English inherited a precise vocabulary for wet ground and has mostly stopped using it precisely. A marsh is low ground flooded by water, usually with grass rather than trees. A mere is a lake, specifically a shallow one. A fen is peaty wetland fed by groundwater, a bog is peaty wetland fed by rain, and a moor is high open ground that may or may not be wet at all. A swamp has trees. These were working distinctions for people who had to get animals across the ground, and they are preserved on the map in thousands of place names long after the speakers stopped needing them. Most English speakers now use three of these words interchangeably and the rest not at all.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source has been documented. The front and the ending were both free elements in American naming of the period, and the record holds the spelling for both sexes without explanation.
Pronouncing Marshay
mar-SHAY
Two syllables with the weight on the second. MAR-shay is also heard and the spelling does not decide.
Nicknames for Marshay
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
- 1975
- Most girls named
- 199244 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2733reached in 1992
- Change vs 2018
- 0.0%7 in 2022, from 7
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.
Marshays among us
people named Marshay 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
Marshay 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
- Shay comes off the back as a short form and works for a child of either sex.
- It is recorded for boys and for girls, so it leaves a question open rather than closing it.
- It is short on paper and quick to write.
- The spelling is recorded for a few boys, but nearly every child with it is a girl.
- Two stress patterns are in circulation and the spelling settles neither.
- No origin is documented, so the meaning question has nothing to answer with.
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Marshay
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Marshays are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Marshay are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marshay in 2025?
- Marshay is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Marshay with classmates?
- Marshay 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 Marshay? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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