Marley

Marley: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“pleasant wood”
Origin
Old English
Say it
MAR-lee · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls (86% of all uses)

From an English surname and place name, usually derived from Old English elements meaning 'pleasant' and 'woodland clearing'. It is also associated with the surname of musician Bob Marley.

How popular is Marley?

2024379 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 Marley in 20241,261

2024 rank#287 girls

Peak year2008

Total US babies since 188037,307

Marley has been fairly stable over the last fifteen years.

Names like Marley

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Marleighpleasant wood clearing · English
  • Marliepleasant wood · English
  • Audreynoble strength · Old English
  • Ashleyash tree clearing · Old English
  • Oakleyoak clearing · Old English
  • Hadleyheather field · Old English
  • Blakelydark wood or clearing · Old English
  • KimberlyCyneburg's meadow · Old English

Marley questions

What does the name Marley mean?

Marley means "pleasant wood". It comes from Old English. From an English surname and place name, usually derived from Old English elements meaning 'pleasant' and 'woodland clearing'. It is also associated with the surname of musician Bob Marley.

Is Marley a boy or girl name?

Marley is mainly a girl's name in US records (86% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Marley?

1,261 US babies were named Marley in 2024. Its peak year was 2008.

How do you pronounce Marley?

Marley is usually pronounced MAR-lee.

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.