Maureen

← Back to Ancient Rome

Girl · Irish

Maureen

Say it: mor-REEN

Try it with your surname

Meaning

An anglicized form of Irish Máirín, a diminutive of Máire (Mary).

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Spread with Irish emigration; popular in the US and Britain from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Its wave through time

A fashion of the 1940s

In the United States

144,440 babies given this name since 1896
At its height in 1948, about 1 in 416 girls
29 babies in 2020

Through the ages

The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

Irish American English

The family of the name

Other spellings: Maurene, Moreen

Irish	Máirín

Famous bearers

Maureen O'Hara, Irish actress

Names worth a look

ColleenGirlFrom the Irish word cailín 'girl'.Modern · peak 1964

MollyGirlA medieval pet form of Mary, from Hebrew Miryam, whose meaning is uncertain.Renaissance · peak 1991

MaggieGirlA pet form of Margaret, from Greek margarites 'pearl', itself probably borrowed from an Eastern language.Victorian · peak 1884

TaraGirlFrom the Hill of Tara (Irish Teamhair), the seat of the high kings of Ireland, possibly meaning 'elevated place';…Modern · peak 1972

LorettaGirlAssociated with Loreto in Italy, the shrine of the Holy House of Mary, and treated as a diminutive of Laura (Latin…Victorian · peak 1938

CaitlinGirlAn Anglicized spelling of Irish Caitlín, from Norman French Cateline (Katherine); the origin of Katherine is unknown.Modern · peak 1988

MarionGirlA medieval French pet form of Marie, with the diminutive ending -on.Middle Ages · peak 1917

MirandaGirlCreated by Shakespeare in The Tempest, from Latin mirandus 'to be wondered at'.Victorian · peak 1995

Where this comes from

United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
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.