Marlene is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

. It is derived from

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

combined with Magdalene. It was popularized by actress and singer

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

. It also came into wider use in the 1940s due to the popular song ''

Lili Marlene "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troo ...

''. The traditional

pronunciation is mar-LAY-nuh. The North American English pronunciation of the name is mar-LEEN. Phonetic variants include Marlena and Marleen.

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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

between 2017 and 2022. It ranked among the top 1,000 names for girls in Brazil between 1930 and 2000.

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 Marlene Jennings (born November 10, 1951) is a former Canadian politician. She was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, and represented the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine from February 2, 1997 to ...

, Canadian Member of Parliament, 1997-2011 *

Marlene Johnson Marlene Johnson (born January 11, 1946) is an American politician and businesswoman who served as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Minnesota, the first woman to hold the office. She was elected as the running mate of Governor Rudy Perpich and s ...

, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota 1983-1991 * Marlene Lenz, German Member of the Bundestag and Member of the European Parliament *

Marléne Lund Kopparklint Marléne Althea Lund Kopparklint (previously Engström; born 24 July 1973) is a Swedish politician from the Moderate Party. Since 2018, she has been member of the Riksdag for Värmland County. She is a member of Armenian-Swedish parliamentary fri ...

, Swedish Member of Parliament 2018-present *

Marlene McDonald Marlene McDonald (1959 – 8 December 2023) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician from the People's National Movement (PNM). Early life She attended Nelson Street Girls' RC Primary School and St François Girls' College. She later studied law at ...

, Trinidadian Member of Parliament *

Marlène Zebango Marlène Habata Zebango is an African politician who was a Minister for Youth and Sports in the government of Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to ...

, Burkinabé politician

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 Marlene Scardamalia is an education researcher, professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Contributions She is considered one of the pioneers in computer-supported collaborative learning. Other areas ...

, education researcher *

Marlène Zarader Marlène Zarader (1949 – 6 June 2025) was a French philosopher. She taught philosophy at the Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III in Montpellier. She became a member of the Institut Universitaire de France in 2007. Her book ''The Unthought ...

, French philosopher *

Marlene Zuk Marlene Zuk (born May 20, 1956) is an American evolutionary biologist and behavioral ecologist. She worked as professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) until she transferred to the University of Minnesota in 2012. Her ...

, evolutionary biologist

Sports

Marlene Hagge Marlene Hagge (née Bauer; February 16, 1934 – May 16, 2023) was an American professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950. She won one women's major golf championships, major championship and 26 LPGA Tour career ...

, American professional golfer *

Marlene Ahrens Marlene Ahrens Ostertag-Ebensperger (July 27, 1933 – June 17, 2020) was a Chilean athlete. She won the silver medal in Javelin throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne with a distance of 50.38 metres. She was the mother of jour ...

, Chilean athlete *

Marlene Elejarde Marlene Elejarde Díaz (also spelled Elejalde, June 3, 1951 – April 29, 1989) was a sprinter from Cuba. She was born in Havana. At the 1968 Summer Olympics she helped win a silver medal in 4 x 100 metres relay, the first Olympic medal ever won ...

, Cuban sprinter *

Marlene Gerson Marlene Gerson (born June 1940) is a female former tennis player from South Africa who was active in the late 1950s and the first half of the 1960s. Her best singles result at the Wimbledon Championships was reaching the third round in 1959. P ...

(born 1940), South African tennis player *

Marlène Harnois The Eurovision Song Contest 1970 was the 15th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NOS), the contest was held at the on 21 Mar ...

(born 1986), French taekwondo practitioner *

Marlene Matthews Marlene Judith Mathews AO (later ''Willard''; born 14 July 1934) is a retired Australian Olympic sprinter. She has been described as 'one of Australia's greatest and unluckiest' champions.Marlene Slebsager Marlene (Lene) Slebsager (born 1966) is a former Danish international cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is ...

, Danish cricketer *

Marlene Streit Marlene Stewart Streit, (born March 9, 1934) is a retired Canadian amateur golfer, and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. She was born in Cereal, Alberta. She learned golf from Gordon McInnis Sr. at the Lookout Point Golf Club in Fonth ...

, Canadian amateur golfer *

Marlene Weingärtner Marlene Weingärtner (born 30 January 1980) is a retired tennis player from Germany. She is a former top 40 player in both singles and doubles. Career The most remarkable moment of her career was her first-round match at the 2003 Australian ...

, tennis player *

Marlene Thomsen Marlene Thomsen (born 5 May 1971) is a former badminton player from Denmark. Career Thomsen is a world-class level player in badminton especially in mixed doubles during the 90's decade. Thomsen managed to win the 1995 World Badminton Champions ...

, Danish badminton player

Entertainment

* Marlene Daudén, Filipina drama actress *

, German actress and entertainer *

Marlene Warfield Marlene Warfield (born in Queens, New York (state), New York) is an American actress. Warfield has acted in films and American television. She portrayed the underground revolutionary Laureen Hobbs in the 1976 film ''Network (1976 film), Network' ...

, American actress * Marlene Callahan, also known as Marlene Wallace *

Marlene Charell Marlene Charell (born Angela Miebs on 27 June 1944) is a German entertainer and was the leading dancer and superstar at Le Lido in Paris from 1968 until the end of 1970. Her stage name is an amalgamation of the entertainers Marlene Dietrich and Er ...

, German entertainer *

Marlene Enright Marlene Enright (born 1985) is an Irish singer-songwriter from County Cork. Early life Marlene Enright is a native of Bantry. Career Marlene Enright began as part of the Cork folk/Americana group The Hard Ground. Her debut solo album was relea ...

, Irish singer * Marlene Janssen, American model *

Marlène Jobert Marlène Jobert (born 4 November 1940) is a French actress and author. Life and career Jobert was born in Algiers, French Algeria, to Charles Jobert, born in Dijon, Côte-d’Or, who served in the French Air Force, and his wife, Jewish Éliane ...

, French actress *

Marlene Morreis Marlene Morreis (born 21 December 1976 in Schärding, Upper Austria, is an Austrian actress. Life and career Marlene Morreis was born in 1976 in Schärding in Upper Austria. She attended a rural primary school, then she went to the grammar schoo ...

, Austrian actress * Marlene Morrow, American model *

Marlene Schmidt Marlene Schmidt (born 11 November 1937) is a German control engineer, actress, television host, and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1961. Life Born in Breslau, Germany and raised in East Germany, where she earned a master's degree in eng ...

, Miss Universe in 1961 *

Marlene van Niekerk Marlene van Niekerk (born 10 November 1954) is a South African poet, writer, and academic. She is best known for her novels, the satirical tragicomedy ''Triomf'' (1994) and the Hertzog-winning ''Agaat'' (2004), which explore themes including th ...

, writer *

Marlene Favela Marlene Favela (born Silvia Marlene Favela Meraz on August 5, 1976) is a Mexican actress and model. In Mexican television, as of 2013 she was best known as Esmeralda in the TV show '' Zorro, La Espada y la Rosa''. In 2013, she appeared as an aw ...

, Mexican actress *

Marlene Marlene may refer to: People * Marlene (given name), including a list of people with the name * Marlene (Burmese businesswoman), Nang Kham Noung (born 1991) * Marlene (Japanese singer) (born 1960), a Filipina jazz singer active in Japan Film * Ma ...

, Brazilian singer

Arts

Marlene Neubauer-Woerner Marlene Neubauer-Woerner (1918 – 2010; Marlene Woerner), was a German sculptor. She was born in Landshut, Germany. Life In 1932, after the death of both parents, she attended the state school for ceramics in Landshut and completed her Master' ...

, German sculptor *

Marlene Dumas Marlene Dumas (born 3 August 1953) is a South African artist and painter based in the Netherlands. Early life and education Dumas was born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Kuils River in the Western Cape, where her father ha ...

, South African painter * Marlene Reidel, German artist

Others

Marlene (Burmese businesswoman) Nang Kham Noung, preferred as Marlene (born 1991), is a Burmese businesswoman and philanthropist. She is a Deputy CEO of the country's largest financial institution Kanbawza Bank, and the executive director of the Kanbawza Group, a major business ...

, also known as Nang Kham Noung *

Marlene Lehnberg Marlene Lehnberg (15 October 1955 – 7 October 2015) was a South African woman who was more commonly known as The Scissor Murderess. She was 18 years old in 1974 when she hired Marthinus Choegoe to stab Susanna Magdalena van der Linde, the wife ...

, also known as ''The Scissor Murderess'' *

Marlene Garcia-Esperat Marlene Garcia Esperat (August 29, 1959 – March 24, 2005, in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines) was a Filipina whistleblower and investigative journalist who wrote a weekly anti-graft column for local newspapers. As a result of her a ...

, murdered journalist * Marlene M. Maheu, American clinical psychologist and author

Fictional characters

* Marlene (''Final Fantasy VII'') *

, from ''The Last of Us'' video game series *

, a Dauntless-born character in Veronica Roth's '' Divergent'' *

Marlene Alraune Marlene Alraune is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Marvel Spotlight'' #28 (June 1976). She is the daughter of archaeolo ...

, of the ''Marvel Universe'' *

Marlene Griggs-Knope The primary characters of the American television comedy series '' Parks and Recreation'' are the employees of the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional Indiana town. The protagonist is Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), the deputy parks director as ...

, 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 McFly,

Marty McFly Marty McFly is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Back to the Future (franchise), ''Back to the Future'' franchise. He is a high school student living in the fictional town of Hill Valley (Back to the Future), Hill Valley, California ...

's daughter in ''

Back to the Future II ''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale; both wrote the story. It is a sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the '' ...

'' * Marlene McKinnon, character in J.K. Rowling's ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series * Marlene Boyce, character in ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

'' and ''

The Green Green Grass ''The Green Green Grass'' is a BBC television sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, and produced by BBC Studios Comedy Productions and Shazam Productions for the BBC. It serves as both a sequel and a spin-off of the long-runni ...

References

{{given name English given names English feminine given names Feminine given names German feminine given names