Marlene (given name) explained

Marlene
Pronunciation:	pronounced as /de/ or pronounced as /de/^[1]
Gender:	Female
Meaning:	Mary Magdalene
Region:	German speaking world
Language origin:	German
Related Names:	Maria and Magdalene

Marlene is a German feminine given name. It is derived from Maria combined with Magdalene. It was popularized by actress and singer Marlene Dietrich. It also came into wider use in the 1940s due to the popular song Lili Marlene. The traditional German pronunciation is mar-LAY-nuh. The North American English pronunciation of the name is mar-LEEN. Phonetic variants include Marlena and Marleen.^[2]

Usage

Marlene has been a well-used name throughout the Western world. In the United States, it was among the top 100 names for newborn girls between 1931 and 1942, was among the top 200 names between 1943 and 1959, and among the top 1,000 names between 1960 and 2012. It was a top 1,000 name for girls in France between 1933 and 2002. It ranked among the top 100 names given to girls in Austria between 1984 and 2021 and was a top 100 name for newborn girls in Germany between 2017 and 2022. It ranked among the top 1,000 names for girls in Brazil between 1930 and 2000.^[3]

Notable people

Politics

Marlene Catterall, Canadian Member of Parliament 1988-2005
Marlene Cowling, Canadian Member of Parliament 1993-1997
Marlene Graham, member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1997-2004
Marlene Jennings, Canadian Member of Parliament, 1997-2011
Marlene Johnson, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota 1983-1991
Marlene Lenz, German Member of the Bundestag and Member of the European Parliament

Academia

Marlene Belfort, who helped discover self-splicing introns in bacteriophage DNA
Marlene Dobkin de Rios (1939-2012), American cultural anthropologist, medical anthropologist, and psychotherapist
Marlene Scardamalia, education researcher
Marlene Zuk, evolutionary biologist

Sports

Marlene Hagge, American professional golfer
Marlene Ahrens, Chilean athlete
Marlene Elejarde, Cuban sprinter
Marlene Gerson (born 1940), South African tennis player
Marlène Harnois (born 1986), French taekwondo practitioner
Marlene Matthews, Australian Olympic sprinter
Marlene Slebsager, Danish cricketer
Marlene Streit, Canadian amateur golfer
Marlene Weingärtner, tennis player
Marlene Thomsen, Danish badminton player

Entertainment

Marlene Daudén, Filipina drama actress
Marlene Dietrich, German actress and entertainer
Marlene Warfield, American actress
Marlene Callahan, also known as Marlene Wallace
Marlene Charell, German entertainer
Marlene Enright, Irish singer
Marlene Janssen, American model
Marlène Jobert, French actress
Marlene Morreis, Austrian actress
Marlene Morrow, American model
Marlene Schmidt, Miss Universe in 1961
Marlene van Niekerk, writer
Marlene Favela, Mexican actress
Marlene, Brazilian singer

Arts

Marlene Neubauer-Woerner, German sculptor
Marlene Dumas, South African painter
Marlene Reidel, German artist

Others

Marlene (Burmese businesswoman), also known as Nang Kham Noung
Marlene Lehnberg, also known as The Scissor Murderess
Marlene Garcia-Esperat, murdered journalist

Fictional characters

Marlene (Final Fantasy VII)
Marlene, from The Last of Us video game series
Marlene, a Dauntless-born character in Veronica Roth's Divergent
Marlene Alraune, of the Marvel Universe
Marlene Griggs-Knope, from American comedy series Parks and Recreation
Marlene Kratz, from Australian soap opera Neighbours
Marlene Rush, from the Robotech Series
Marlene the otter, character in the animated TV show The Penguins of Madagascar
Marlene McKinnon, character in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
Marlene Boyce, character in Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass

References

Book: Duden Aussprachewörterbuch . 6 . 2006 . Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. Brockhaus AG . Mannheim . German . 3-411-04066-1.
Book: Hanks. Patrick. Hardcastle. Kate . Hodges. Flavia. 2006. Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press . 185. 0-19-861060-2.
Web site: Meaning, origin and history of the name Marlene .