Marla

Where Marla comes from

American back-formation from Marlene, first used in the 1930s.
— Wiktionary's entry for Marla
  • Hebrew
  • Vowel-ended
Marla through the years
  1. 1912
    First appearance
    #2,634 among girls with 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, the most in any year.
  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.