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Boy · Latin
Marius
Say it: MAIR-ee-us
Meaning
Roman family name of uncertain origin, possibly from Mars or from mas 'male'. It is not related to Maria.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Its forms Mario, Marius and Mariusz became common in 19th- and 20th-century Europe.
Its wave through time
Popular now
In the United States
- 2,400 babies given this name since 1881
- At its height in 1881, about 1 in 20,100 boys
- 62 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
| Italian | Mario |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Mario |
| French | Marius |
| Portuguese | Mário |
| Romanian | Marius |
| Polish | Mariusz |
Famous bearers
- Gaius Marius, Roman general
- Marius Petipa, choreographer
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Roman literature and history (Livy, Cicero, Tacitus and others)
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- 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.