Marija

Girl · Hebrew

Marija

Say it: mah-REE-yah

Try it with your surname

Meaning

The Maltese form of Maria, from Hebrew Miryam, whose meaning is uncertain.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

508 babies given this name since 1962
At its height in 2010, about 1 in 88,800 girls
6 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Maltese Croatian Serbian Lithuanian

The family of the name

Italian	Maria
English	Mary

Names worth a look

AddolorataGirlFrom the Marian title Our Lady of Sorrows (Addolorata 'sorrowful').Victorian · forgotten

CarmelaGirlFrom Our Lady of Mount Carmel; Hebrew karmel means 'garden, orchard'.Victorian · peak 1911 · forgotten

MargieGirlA pet form of Margaret or Marjorie, from Greek margarites 'pearl'.Victorian · peak 1922

MargeryGirlA medieval English form of Margaret, through Old French Margerie; ultimately from Greek margaritēs 'pearl'.Middle Ages · peak 1921 · forgotten

MargitGirlFrom Greek margarites 'pearl'.Middle Ages

MirjanaGirlA South Slavic form related to Miriam and Mariana; the popular link to mir 'peace' is a folk association, not the…Victorian

MarjattaGirlThe Kalevala's virgin mother, who conceives after eating a lingonberry; usually linked to Finnish marja 'berry' and…Victorian · forgotten

MuirgelGirlFrom Old Irish muir 'sea' and gel 'bright, white'.Early Medieval · forgotten

Where this comes from

Parish baptism registers
Calendars of saints and name days
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.