# Marcel (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/marcel/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | French |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /mɑɹˈsɛl/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 21,123 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 20,131 / 992 (5% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,489, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from French Marcel, from Latin Marcellus, diminutive of Marcus. Doublet of Marcellus.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 10 | 8,452 |
| 1994 | 10 | 8,532 |
| 1995 | 5 | 14,846 |
| 1997 | 6 | 13,106 |
| 1998 | 9 | 9,804 |
| 1999 | 7 | 12,181 |
| 2000 | 5 | 16,628 |
| 2001 | 6 | 14,662 |
| 2002 | 5 | 17,135 |
| 2003 | 5 | 17,387 |
| 2005 | 5 | 18,178 |
| 2006 | 6 | 16,389 |
| 2009 | 5 | 19,134 |
| 2010 | 5 | 18,823 |
| 2015 | 5 | 18,169 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 256 | 842 |
| 2012 | 238 | 882 |
| 2013 | 275 | 801 |
| 2014 | 264 | 848 |
| 2015 | 308 | 772 |
| 2016 | 317 | 766 |
| 2017 | 315 | 749 |
| 2018 | 326 | 733 |
| 2019 | 310 | 766 |
| 2020 | 373 | 686 |
| 2021 | 387 | 686 |
| 2022 | 417 | 659 |
| 2023 | 341 | 761 |
| 2024 | 339 | 755 |
| 2025 | 364 | 731 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 157 | 284 |
| 2012 | 195 | 253 |
| 2013 | 193 | 256 |
| 2014 | 239 | 232 |
| 2015 | 252 | 223 |
| 2016 | 215 | 249 |
| 2017 | 214 | 250 |
| 2018 | 234 | 221 |
| 2019 | 177 | 273 |
| 2020 | 146 | 317 |
| 2021 | 174 | 265 |
| 2022 | 114 | 371 |
| 2023 | 117 | 360 |
| 2024 | 84 | 475 |
| 2025 | 70 | 556 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: مارسيل
- Bulgarian: Марсе́л
- Catalan: Marcel
- Czech: Marcel
- French: Marcel
- German: Marcel
- Hungarian: Marcell
- Latin: Mārcellus
- Polish: Marcel, Marceli
- Portuguese: Marcelo
- Slovak: Marcel
- Spanish: Marcelo

## People named Marcel

- Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic and essayist (1871–1922)
- Marcel Desailly, French footballer (born 1968)
- Marcel Marceau, French actor and mime artist (1923–2007)
- Marcel Achard, French writer (1899-1974)
- Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist (1872-1950)
- Marcel Schmelzer, German footballer
- Marcel Carné, French film director (1906 – 1996)
- Marcel Sabitzer, Austrian footballer
- Marcel Aymé, French writer (1902–1967)
- Marcel Lefebvre, French traditionalist Catholic archbishop
- Marcel Halstenberg, German footballer, born 1991.
- Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (1886–1971)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.