Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his December 28th column, he discusses the name “Marlon”.
Marlon brings in Omaha’s new year with laughs next weekend.
Marlon Wayans, first featured on older brother Keenen Ivory Wayans’ sketch comedy show, “In Living Color” (1992-1993), became a star with brother Shawn on “The Wayans Bros.” (1995-1999). He headlines at Omaha’s Funny Bone Comedy Club Jan. 2, 3 and 4.
Marlon began as a respelling of two different names. Marlin is a French and English surname derived from Merlin, name of King Arthur’s magician. Merlin’s a French version of Welsh Myrddin, itself from Celtic Moridunum, “sea fort.” Like many other family names, Marlin began to be used as a first name in the late 18th century.
Marlin peaked as a first name in the United States in 1935 at 276th. The most famous example was Marlin Perkins (1905-1986), zoologist host of “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” (1963-1985).
In New England, New York and New Jersey, Marlon was also a respelling of Mahlon. A biblical name of uncertain meaning, Mahlon’s the name of Ruth’s first husband in the Old Testament book of Ruth.
Marlon was a respelling of Mahlon because in the 19th century most New Englanders had “non-rhotic” accents. Even today many Bostonians don’t pronounce “r” at the end of syllables, saying “pahk the cah” for “park the car.”
Two centuries ago, people across the Northeast pronounced “Marlon” and “Mahlon” identically. One example was Marlon Damon (1816-1903) of Goshen, Massachusetts. On his tombstone he’s “Marlon,” but his death certificate says “Mahlon.”
The most famous Marlon, Omaha-born film star Marlon Brando (1924-2004), was named after his father. Marlon Sr.’s father Eugene’s older brother was Marlon H. Brando (1843-1900). They were from Oswego County in upstate New York, so for the Brandos, Marlon may have come from Mahlon.
Eugene was 3 years old and Marlon H. 16 when their father, James, died in 1860, so Marlon was Eugene’s father figure. Marlon Brando Sr. named his first daughter Jocelyn after grandmother Nancy Jocelyn Brando’s maiden name. Jocelyn Brando (1919-2005) also had an acting career.
When Brando became a star playing Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951), Marlon surged as a baby name. In 1955, Marlon ranked 344th and Marlin 428th.
The name then plateaued until 1970, when the Jackson Five became a musical sensation. Marlon Jackson’s fame exploded his name. 231 Marlons were born in 1969, and 1,029 in 1972, the year Wayans was born. Ever since, Marlon’s been especially popular with African-American parents.
Marlon dropped off quickly after 1972. Wayans’ career may have helped the name a bit. It plateaued at about 0.022% of births in the 1990s when he first became famous. There was even a slight uptick in 2006 when the film “Little Man,” where through the magic of special effects Wayans played a dwarf jewel thief pretending to be a baby, was a box office hit, despite being slammed by critics.
Marlon Lucky (born 1986) was a star running back for the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 2005 to 2009. Second baseman Anderson (1974) and outfielder Byrd (1977) are Marlons with baseball fame.
Jamaican-born novelist Marlon James (1970) won the Man Booker Prize in 2015 for “A Brief History of Seven Killings.”
Since 2006 Marlon’s steadily fallen as a baby name, leaving the top thousand in 2024. Despite that, Brando, Jackson and Wayans’ fame will keep Marlon well known for decades to come.
Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name “Marlon”!