Marcelina
The Latin root is Mars, the god of war, so the name reads as a little warrior belonging to him. It sits among the familiar girls' names in Poland and holds steady, with more girls given it now than in the early 2000s.
Marcelina Pronunciation
Marcelina is pronounced mahr-tse-LEE-nah (/mart͡sɛˈlina/).
What Marcelina means
Where Marcelina comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Marcelina traces back to Latin, down a chain of small forms. Marcellus shrank from Marcus, and Marcellina grew from Marcellus, so the name arrives already twice softened. The root is Mars. That is why the short meaning holds to "dedicated to Mars," or in Polish a mała wojowniczka, a little warrior belonging to Mars.
One early bearer was Marcellina, older sister of Ambrose of Milan, who took the veil in Rome in the fourth century. Her feast falls on 17 July, and Polish calendars still mark imieniny for Marcelina then.
The name keeps close company with two relatives. There is Marcela, its shorter variant, and Marcel, the masculine form a brother might carry. Read a class register at a Polish school and a Marcelina may answer near a Marcel. The warrior sense comes from the root, carried to Marcelina through Marcellus and Mars.
When Marcelina celebrates name day
Marcelina appears 4 times in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 5 January.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Marcelina
1 in 470 women in Poland is named Marcelina. 47,995 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #196 among female names.
Marcelina's popularity over time
2,257 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #33 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2004.
Where parents choose Marcelina
Marcelina is most popular in Podlaskie, 48% above the national average (884 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Holy Cross (+33%) and Lublin (+31%). It is least common in Lesser Poland and Silesian, 38% and 35% below average respectively.
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Podlaskie
+48%1 in 74 babies
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Holy Cross
+33%1 in 83 babies
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Lublin
+31%1 in 84 babies
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Lesser Poland
−38%1 in 178 babies
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Silesian
−35%1 in 168 babies
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Lower Silesian
−23%1 in 144 babies
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Podlaskie+48% 884 born1 in 74 babies+48%
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Holy Cross+33% 669 born1 in 83 babies+33%
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Lublin+31% 1,219 born1 in 84 babies+31%
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Masovian+23% 3,964 born1 in 89 babies+23%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+20% 1,192 born1 in 92 babies+20%
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Warmian-Masurian+19% 778 born1 in 92 babies+19%
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Greater Poland+14% 2,233 born1 in 96 babies+14%
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Lubusz+8% 486 born1 in 102 babies+8%
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Łódź+3% 1,185 born1 in 107 babies+3%
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Pomeranian−2% 1,316 born1 in 112 babies−2%
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West Pomeranian−8% 708 born1 in 119 babies−8%
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Subcarpathian−16% 915 born1 in 132 babies−16%
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Opole−20% 334 born1 in 138 babies−20%
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Lower Silesian−23% 1,094 born1 in 144 babies−23%
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Silesian−35% 1,351 born1 in 168 babies−35%
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Lesser Poland−38% 1,278 born1 in 178 babies−38%
Marcelina as a middle name
Marcelina is a first name for 47,995 women in Poland and a middle name for another 7,844, an 86/14 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 121st, between Daniela (8,071) and Rita (7,804).
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#119 Ludwika8,080
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#120 Daniela8,071
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#121 Marcelina7,844
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#122 Rita7,804
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#123 Adrianna7,536