Marley
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name transferred from the surname. 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”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Marley (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Marley has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2014. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | – | – |
| 1999 | – | – |
| 2000 | – | – |
| 2001 | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – |
| 2003 | – | – |
| 2004 | – | – |
| 2005 | – | – |
| 2006 | – | – |
| 2007 | – | 7 |
| 2008 | 3 | 7 |
| 2009 | 5 | 20 |
| 2010 | 3 | 15 |
| 2011 | – | 11 |
| 2012 | 4 | 23 |
| 2013 | 6 | 21 |
| 2014 | 5 | 27 |
| 2015 | 5 | 23 |
| 2016 | 6 | 24 |
| 2017 | 6 | 18 |
| 2018 | – | 26 |
| 2019 | 5 | 18 |
| 2020 | 2 | 18 |
| 2021 | 4 | 12 |
| 2022 | 10 | 19 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | – | – |
| 2000 | – | – |
| 2001 | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – |
| 2003 | – | – |
| 2004 | – | – |
| 2005 | – | 10 |
| 2006 | – | 11 |
| 2007 | – | 20 |
| 2008 | – | 25 |
| 2009 | 11 | 46 |
| 2010 | 14 | 60 |
| 2011 | 14 | 72 |
| 2012 | 17 | 96 |
| 2013 | 24 | 117 |
| 2014 | 29 | 142 |
| 2015 | 34 | 167 |
| 2016 | 41 | 191 |
| 2017 | 48 | 208 |
| 2018 | 53 | 235 |
| 2019 | 59 | 256 |
| 2020 | 62 | 273 |
Marley in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Marley.Hi! My name is Marley.
- Jag ska fika med Marley i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Marley this afternoon.
- Marley har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Marley has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Marleys mamma är lärare.Marley's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Marleys mamma is Marley's mum.
More names
Questions about Marley
How do you pronounce Marley in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Marley in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Marley mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name transferred from the surname. 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”).
How popular is Marley in Sweden?
29 babies were named Marley in 2022. In 2020, 335 people in Sweden had Marley as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2014 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.