Marlene

Marlene: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“modern blend of Maria and Magdalene”
Origin
Germanic
Say it
mar-LEEN · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls

Created in German as a contracted form of Maria Magdalene. It is especially associated with actress Marlene Dietrich.

How popular is Marlene?

202441.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Marlene in 2024137

2024 rank#1,549 girls

Peak year1936

Total US babies since 1880130,755

Marlene is fading: recent use is about 65% of its level ten years before.

Names like Marlene

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Miamine; also Maria diminutive · Italian
  • Maryuncertain, traditionally beloved or bitter · Hebrew
  • Mariameaning uncertain · Hebrew
  • Mariannacombination of Maria and Anna · Latin
  • Marielladrop of the sea; beloved · Italian
  • Miahuncertain; often linked to Mia · Unknown
  • Maliahmodern variant of Malia · American (modern coinage)
  • Marlaof Magdala · English

Marlene questions

What does the name Marlene mean?

Marlene means "modern blend of Maria and Magdalene". It comes from Germanic. Created in German as a contracted form of Maria Magdalene. It is especially associated with actress Marlene Dietrich.

Is Marlene a boy or girl name?

Marlene is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Marlene?

137 US babies were named Marlene in 2024. Its peak year was 1936.

How do you pronounce Marlene?

Marlene is usually pronounced mar-LEEN.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.