Marnie began as a short form of Marina, from the Latin marinus, "of the sea", and has long been used on its own in Britain. Alfred Hitchcock's 1964 film Marnie, with Tippi Hedren in the title role, gave the name its best-known bearer. In the United States Marnie is rare but rising: it stood at number 5771 in 2015 and reached number 2186 in 2025, its highest rank ever, with 85 girls given the name.