Marlene is a German "blend of Maria and Magdalene", coined in the early 20th century and made world-famous by actress Marlene Dietrich, who built it from her own names Maria Magdalena. In the United States it is pronounced either mar-LEEN or mar-LAY-nuh and was a top 100 name in the 1930s, when Dietrich was a Hollywood star. Marlene peaked at number 485 in 2004, left the US top 1000 in the 2010s and ranks number 1,268 in 2025.