Marlin is usually taken as a variant of Merlin, the name of King Arthur's wizard, which comes from the Welsh Myrddin and is often explained as "sea fortress", though it is also used as a spelling of Marlon and shares its name with the big-game fish. Many Americans know it from the anxious clownfish father in Pixar's Finding Nemo. Marlin has stayed between number 1342 and number 2086 since 2000 and ranks 1788 in 2025.