| Indigo | Marlowe | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Deep blue-purple dye | remnants of a drained lake (place name) |
| Origin | English | english |
| Gender | Unisex | Unisex |
| Pronunciation | IN-dih-goh | MAR-loh |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1971 | 1918 |
| Peak year | 2025 (318) | 2025 (575) |
| In 2025 | 318 | 575 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Indigo | Marlowe |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,693 | 2,327 |
| 2010s | 1,148 | 1,872 |
| 2000s | 597 | 250 |
| 1990s | 565 | 77 |
| 1980s | 12 | 68 |
| 1970s | 5 | 68 |
| 1960s | 0 | 35 |
| 1950s | 0 | 6 |
| 1940s | 0 | 38 |
| 1930s | 0 | 33 |
| 1920s | 0 | 25 |
| 1910s | 0 | 6 |
Indigo names the deep blue-purple dye and colour, from the Greek for “Indian.”
An English habitational surname from Marlow in Buckinghamshire, from Old English 'mere' (lake, pool) + 'laf' (remnants, leavings), i.e. marshy ground left after a lake was drained. Often loosely glossed 'driftwood'. It also recalls the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe.
Marlowe is more popular than Indigo today: about 575 US babies were given the name Marlowe in 2025, compared with 318 named Indigo.
Indigo means Deep blue-purple dye (English origin), while Marlowe means remnants of a drained lake (place name) (english origin).
In US records, Indigo first appears in 1971 and Marlowe in 1918, so Marlowe has the longer recorded history.