Murlene
Feminine · “A lengthened form of Merle”
Murlene gives Merle the soft -lene ending of Arlene and Darlene, written the way Americans say it. Merle has two remarkable bearers: a film star who hid where she was born, and a country singer who first heard Johnny Cash from inside San Quentin.
How old is the name Murlene?
Murlene first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Murlene alive today was born around 1937, making them about 88 years old. About 200 people named Murlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Murlene most popular?
Murlene peaked in 1934, reaching #1440 nationally. See the whole 1934 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From merle to Murlene
The story of Murlene
Merle Oberon, one of the great stars of 1930s Hollywood, told the world she had been born in Tasmania; in fact she was born in Bombay to an Anglo-Indian family, and she hid her mother and her origins for the whole of her career. On New Year's Day 1959 Johnny Cash played for the inmates of San Quentin, and in the audience was a young prisoner named Merle Haggard, who later said the show made him decide to become a singer; he did, and became one of the great voices of country music. Murlene was a mid-century American lengthening of Merle.
Meaning
A lengthened form of Merle
Merle is the French word for a blackbird. Murlene writes its vowel as English says it and adds -lene.
How the name formed
- merle
- Merle
- Murlene
Related forms: Merle · Merlene
Pronouncing Murlene
mur-LEEN
Two syllables with the stress on the second.
Nicknames for Murlene
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
- 1912
- Most girls named
- 193126 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1440reached in 1934
- Change vs 1963
- 0.0%5 in 1964, from 5
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.
Murlene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Merle in French — related form
- Merlene in English — spelling variant
Murlenes among us
people named Murlene 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
Murlene 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
- Built on Merle, a name with a long history.
- Easy to say.
- Rare, so a Murlene is unlikely to share her name.
- People will write Merlene or Marlene.
- It reads as a mid-century name.
- The -lene ending adds no meaning of its own.
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Murlene
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Murlenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Murlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Murlene in 2025?
- Murlene is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Murlene with classmates?
- Murlene 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 Murlene? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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