Marley

Did you know?

A few things about Marley you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Marley

Marley Shelton

American actress

Choose Marley and your child shares a first name with Marley Shelton, an American actress. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Marley, like who?” Marley Shelton's Wikipedia article is available in 35 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Marley Shelton on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: lukeford.net, CC BY-SA 2.5 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 1,692 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Marley, 950 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Marley would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryMarley first shows up in US birth records in 1914, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 111 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2008, when it reached #145.
• 📈Then vs nowMarley is 3.2× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 5,388 baby girls; in 2025, about 1 in 1,692.
• 🍂TrendMarley has slipped 111 places over the last five years and now sits at #322. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedMarley is most popular in Nevada, where it ranks #178, followed by West Virginia (#181) and Mississippi (#182). It's in the top 1,000 in 39 states.
• ⚖️Boy or girlMarley is given to both boys and girls: 88% of the 1,081 babies named Marley in 2025 were girls. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.
• 💬MeaningIn Old English, Marley means “pleasant wood”. Our records link it to English, Greek and Slavic roots.
• 🌍OriginMarley is the #10 most popular Slavic girl name in the US. That's out of 437 Slavic girl and unisex names in our list.

About the name Marley

Marley is a gender-neutral name of English, Greek and Slavic origin meaning “pleasant wood”. It has 6 letters and 2 syllables, starting with M and ending in “-ley”. US birth records list Marley for girls from 1937 to 2025, in 73 of those 89 years. Its best year was 2008, when it ranked #145 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #322, with 950 babies. Of the 1,081 US babies named Marley in 2025, 88% were girls and 12% were boys.

Origin:English namesGreek namesSlavic names