namelingSwipe names

Marlin

Gender
Boy
Say it
MAR-lin
Origin
English
UK rank, 2025
#5,065 for boys
US rank, 2025
#1,778 for boys

Marlin is a boys' name of English origin. In 2025 it ranked 5,065th for boys in the UK (3 babies) and 1,778th for boys in the US (90 babies).

What does Marlin mean?

English: variant of Merlin or Marlon; also the game fish

Borne by Marlin Perkins, the American zoologist who presented the long-running TV series Wild Kingdom.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Marlin a girl's or a boy's name?

Marlin is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 3 boys in the UK and 14 girls and 90 boys in the US.

How popular is Marlin in the UK?

Rank in 2025
5,065th among boys
Babies in 2025
3 about 1 in 100,000 boys
Five-year trend
Too rare to call too few babies to tell
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 3 boys in the UK were named Marlin, making it the 5,065th most popular name for boys. Its busiest year was 2014, with 5 boys.

In 2025, 32 boys in the UK were given Marlin or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #908, up from #5,065 for this spelling alone.

Among boys in 2025, it was 4,974th in England and Wales.

2007Busiest: 5 in 20142025
Marlin in the UK, year by year
YearBoysRank
20253#5,065
20240–
20235#3,712
20220–
20210–
20200–
20190–
20184#4,169
20173#4,995
20160–
20150–
20145#3,529
20130–
20120–
20110–
20100–
20090–
20080–
20071#5,736

How popular is Marlin in the US?

Rank in 2025
1,778th among boys
Babies in 2025
90 about 1 in 19,000 boys
Five-year trend
Steady up 13% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 90 boys in the US were named Marlin, making it the 1,778th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 2,069th. Its busiest year was 1935, with 386 boys. It first appears in the records in 1884. 14 girls were also named Marlin in 2025 (7,489th for girls).

2025 had more boys named Marlin than any year since 2007.

Half of all the boys named Marlin in the US since 1880 were born between 1935 and 1974, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 290 boys in the US were given Marlin or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #787, up from #1,778 for this spelling alone.

In 2025, 13% of the babies named Marlin in the US were girls.

1884Busiest: 386 in 19352025
Marlin in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
202590#1,778
202483#1,902
202385#1,868
202278#1,964
202173#2,025
202068#2,069
201974#1,973
201886#1,777
201779#1,861
201670#2,028
201582#1,815
201481#1,828
201371#1,941
201286#1,741
201181#1,779
201069#1,985
200967#2,049
200878#1,861
200794#1,638
200696#1,543
2005100#1,459
200485#1,552
200393#1,418
200280#1,540
200197#1,333
200088#1,404
199995#1,280
199898#1,234
1997116#1,087
1996101#1,160
1995114#1,040
1994112#1,049
1993119#996
1992108#1,052
1991114#1,002
1990117#959
1989116#944
1988125#849
1987100#942
198686#994
1985106#882
1984108#843
1983124#783
1982120#807
1981121#796
1980119#804
1979127#768
1978141#707
1977155#679
1976166#637
1975156#659
1974226#529
1973198#565
1972238#508
1971249#517
1970182#601
1969161#615
1968180#568
1967173#571
1966221#509
1965219#518
1964226#520
1963212#546
1962223#534
1961246#507
1960231#522
1959240#508
1958289#461
1957277#463
1956288#443
1955293#427
1954337#390
1953295#403
1952306#392
1951268#416
1950289#399
1949283#400
1948297#393
1947316#385
1946325#363
1945280#355
1944219#407
1943331#337
1942302#348
1941345#312
1940315#318
1939369#287
1938343#295
1937346#290
1936337#294
1935386#276
1934324#301
1933340#287
1932350#293
1931302#311
1930312#314
1929265#344
1928280#337
1927251#369
1926237#379
1925241#384
1924237#394
1923196#434
1922219#408
1921210#419
1920172#465
1919183#435
1918182#440
1917164#441
1916155#447
1915128#490
191497#497
191379#487
191274#461
191135#497
191014#822
190915#714
190819#585
19079#929
190612#709
19059#836
190416#566
19037#910
190215#555
190111#637
190011#784
18996#927
18988#803
18977#851
18960–
18950–
18940–
18939#705
18920–
18916#840
18900–
18890–
18880–
18870–
18860–
18850–
18846#848

Names like Marlin

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Frankie, Robin, Stanley, Freddie, Franklin, Tommy, Teddy, Sonny, Bobby, Vincent, Chester, Rudy

Other spellings of Marlin

Marlon, Marlan

Names related to Marlin

Merlin, Marilyn, Marlene, Marlena, Marlen, Marilynn, Marleny

More English names

Lily, Evelyn, Hudson, Ivy, Harper, Grace, Violet, Willow, Daisy, Poppy, Riley, Oakley, Mason, Cooper, Ruby, Hallie

Every English name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Marlin: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/marlin, updated 20 October 2026.