Marcel

Where Marcel comes from

Borrowed from French Marcel, from Latin Marcellus, diminutive of Marcus. Doublet of Marcellus.
— Wiktionary's entry for Marcel
  • French
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1871
    Marcel Proust born
    French novelist, critic and essayist
  2. 1881
    First appearance
    #866 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1895
    Marcel Pagnol born
    novelist, playwright and filmmaker from France
  4. 1925
    Peak, #500
    148 babies named Marcel — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1935
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #731.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from French.
Namesakes
  • Marcel Proust · French novelist, critic and essayist, 1871–1922
  • Marcel Pagnol · novelist, playwright and filmmaker from France, 1895–1974
  • Marcel Desailly · French footballer, born 1968
  • Marcel Marceau · French actor and mime artist, 1923–2007
  • Marcel Achard · French writer, 1899–1974

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.