Maria

Girl · Hebrew

Maria

Say it: mah-REE-ah

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From Hebrew Miryam, of uncertain meaning; many explanations ('bitter', 'beloved', an Egyptian root) have been proposed and none is settled.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

Long the most common girls' name in Spain and Portugal, where it also heads countless compounds such as María José and Maria João.

Its wave through time

Timeless: in steady use for over a century

In the United States

555,635 babies given this name since 1880
At its height in 1966, about 1 in 185 girls
2,470 babies in 2020

The family of the name

English	Mary
French	Marie
Spanish	María
Maltese	Marija
Portuguese	Maria
Slovak	Mária
Russian	Mariya
Catalan	Maria

Famous bearers

Maria Montessori, educator
María de Molina, queen of Castile
Maria II, queen of Portugal

Names worth a look

MarthaGirlAramaic marta, 'lady, mistress'.Biblical · peak 1887

AliceGirlFrom Old French Aalis, a contraction of Germanic Adalheidis ('noble kind').Middle Ages · peak 1906

ChristinaGirlLatin christiana, 'Christian, follower of Christ'.Early Medieval · peak 1978

JudithGirlHebrew Yehudit, 'woman of Judea, Jewish woman'.Biblical · peak 1940

CatherineGirlGreek Aikaterinē, of unknown origin. Its link to katharos 'pure' is a later folk etymology that changed the Latin…Early Medieval · peak 1909

AndreaGirl or boyFrom Greek Andreas, from aner, andros 'man'. In Italy it is a boys' name; in much of Europe it is used for girls.Middle Ages · peak 1981

MaryGirlFrom Hebrew Miryam, through Greek and Latin Maria; the meaning is uncertain, with many proposals and none settled.Biblical · peak 1891

MarkBoyLatin Marcus, probably from the god Mars.Biblical · peak 1960

Where this comes from

The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
Calendars of saints and name days
National birth statistics of European countries source
Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
Parish baptism registers
Colonial records of the Americas
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.