Marley

Where Marley comes from

From several different places in England, from Old English mære (“boundary”) or myrig (“pleasant”) or mearþ (“marten”) + lēah (“woodland clearing”). In the first case, equivalent to mere (“boundary”) + -ley (“lea”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Marley
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1937
    First appearance
    #3,800 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1962
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1974
    Marley Shelton born
    American actress
  4. 2001
    Marley Aké born
    French and Ivorian association football player
  5. 2008
    Peak, #145
    2,359 babies named Marley — more than any year before or since.
  6. 2022
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #276.
In the dictionary
  • A census-designated place in Will County, Illinois, United States.
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
  • A female given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Marley Shelton · American actress, born 1974
  • Marley Aké · French and Ivorian association football player, born 2001
  • Marley Dias · American activist and writer
  • Marley Watkins · Welsh footballer, born 1990
  • Marley Munroe · Los Angeles-based vocalist, born 1985

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.