Given name & surname

Marlan

“resembling a little hawk”

Marlan is a variant of Marlon. One English interpretation is “resembling a little hawk.” Its derivation is not certain.

Meaning & origin

What it means

Marlan is a variant of Marlon. One English interpretation is “resembling a little hawk.” Its derivation is not certain.

Explained through its name family

Where it comes from

Marlan is a variant of Marlon. A possible origin is French, although the derivation remains uncertain.

Explained through its name family

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1915. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Marlan through the years

Babies since 1880
1,236
1,222 boys · 14 girls
Most popular year
1952
33 babies
2025
5
#13,220 for boys
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
Boys Girls
0102030192019401960198020002025Highest share 1937Boys 2.9Girls 0.0
Marlan in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1915–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,220 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 27 in 1941. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 897 as a first name in 2020; 104 as a surname in 2000.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Marlan’s family of names

Marlan has a related form in Marlon.

Walk Marlan’s family in the name graph

MarlanMarlon

The ring: nicknames and forms.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 1

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

People named Marlan

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Marlan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Greek

Karan

“one who is pure; chaste”

17Very rareEasing

>99% boys

Hebrew · Biblical

Adlai

“God is just” · “The Lord is just; an orna-i ment”

18Very rareEasing

75% boys · 25% girls

 

Stevan

“crowned with garland”

17Very rareCooling

>99% boys

Irish

Doran

“exile, wanderer” · “a stranger; one who has been exiled”

16Very rareEasing

>99% boys

English

Sherman

“one who cuts wool cloth”

22RareCooling

>99% boys

Slavic

Bohdan

“given by God”

26RareEasing

>99% boys

 

Mickael

Mickael is a masculine given name. It is used in Swedish.

17Very rareEasing

>99% boys

 

Allan

“one who is precious” · “resembling a little rock”

48UncommonSteady

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Marlan’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Marlan

A sister for Marlan