Marli

Meaning of Marli

Marli, pronounced MAR-lee, is generally treated as an Anglo-American spin on the Old English surname Marley—“pleasant wood” or “boundary wood”—trimmed down and given a bright, vowel-rich ending. Some parents also see it as a blend of Mary with the diminutive suffix -li, which quietly nods to the Hebrew “beloved” without the full formality of Mary itself. Either way, the name’s lean five letters project a brisk, contemporary feel, while its reggae-adjacent sound inevitably summons a whisper of Bob Marley for music-minded listeners. In the United States, Marli has hovered in the lower half of the Top 1,000 since the early 1970s, reliably turning up a few dozen to a hundred times a year—enough to be recognizable, not enough to be commonplace. That balance of familiarity and rarity, coupled with the straightforward spelling and friendly cadence, makes Marli a quiet contender for parents seeking a modern choice that neither shouts nor hides.