Marla

Where Marla comes from

American back-formation from Marlene, first used in the 1930s.
— Wiktionary's entry for Marla
  • Hebrew
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1912
    First appearance
    #2,634 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1931
    Marla Gibbs born
    actress, entertainer, singer, writer, and producer
  3. 1955
    Peak, #193
    1,725 babies named Marla — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1963
    Marla Maples born
    American actress and TV personality
  5. 1972
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #314.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Hebrew.
Namesakes
  • Marla Maples · American actress and TV personality, born 1963
  • Marla Gibbs · actress, entertainer, singer, writer, and producer, born 1931
  • Marla Sokoloff · American actress, born 1980
  • Marla Adams · American actress, 1938–2024
  • Marla English · American film actress, 1935–2012

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.