Maria
Top 1000
About Maria
As a highly popular girls' name in all Spanish-speaking countries, this saintly Latin variation of Mary retains a timeless beauty. Through the centuries, Maria remains one of the most widely-used girl names starting with M.
This widespread name understandably has produced notable namesakes in almost every field — opera's Maria Callas (born Sophia Cecelia), tennis's Sharapova, education's Montessori, ad infinitum. And she's been celebrated in song as well, from Ave Maria to the eponymous song in West Side Story to "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" in The Sound of Music.
While the usual English pronunciation these days is the same as it is in non-English-speaking countries — mah-REE-ah — the British used to pronounce it mah-RYE-ah, like Mariah Carey.
Maria ultimately derives from the Hebrew name Maryam/Mariam. The original meaning of Maryam is uncertain, but theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew roots mar "drop" and yam "sea"); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah "bitterness"); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr).
As of October 2026, Maria ranked #87 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #30 in 1975, Nameberry popularity #538.
Editor's take: The name Maria is a girl's name of Aramaic, Latin origin meaning "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #114 | 2,776 | 1,554 |
| 2015 | #109 | 2,833 | 1,587 |
| 2016 | #113 | 2,810 | 1,585.8 |
| 2017 | #111 | 2,717 | 1,573.7 |
| 2018 | #115 | 2,619 | 1,539.6 |
| 2019 | #106 | 2,716 | 1,618.2 |
| 2020 | #109 | 2,492 | 1,541.6 |
| 2021 | #105 | 2,604 | 1,587 |
| 2022 | #91 | 2,847 | 1,735.8 |
| 2023 | #82 | 2,905 | 1,810.4 |
| 2024 | #74 | 3,105 | 1,916.4 |
| 2025 | #87 | 2,887 | 1,796.2 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Maria.
Famous Marias
- Saint Maria Goretti
Italian virgin martyr
- Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina
Holy Roman Empress
- Maria I (born Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana)
Queen of Portugal
- Maria II (born Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga)
Queen of Portugal
- Maria of Montferrat
Queen of Jerusalem
- Maria Vladimirovna
Grand Duchess of Russia
- Maria Feodorovna (born Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar)
Empress consort of Alexander III of Russia
- Maria of Austria
Holy Roman Empress consort of Maximilian II
- Maria Anna of Spain
Holy Roman Empress consort of Ferdinand III
- Maria Komnene
Queen consort of Amalric I of Jerusalem
- Maria of Aragon
Queen consort of Manuel I of Portugal
- Maria Pia of Savoy
Queen consort of Luís I of Portugal
- Maria of Romania
Queen consort of Alexander of Yugoslavia
- Maria of Bytom
Queen consort of Charles I of Hungary
- Maria Kazimiera
Queen consort of Jan III Sobieski of Poland
- Maria Luisa of Parma
Queen consort of Charles IV of Spain
- Maria Christina Henriette Desideria Felicitas Raineria of Austria
Queen consort of Alfonso XII of Spain
- María Teresa Mestre y Batista
Grand Duchess consort of Henri of Luxembourg
- Maria Nikolaevna
Grand Duchess of Russia, daughter of Nicholas II
- Maria Alexandrovna
Grand Duchess of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh
- Maria Pavlovna the Younger
Grand Duchess of Russia, Duchess of Södermanland
- (Ludovica Teresa) Maria Clotilde of Savoy
Princess Napoléon
- Maria Owings Shriver
American journalist
- Maria Callas (b. Sophia Cecelia Kalos)
Greek,born opera singer
- Maria Yuryevna Sharapova
Russian tennis player
- Maria Romanovna Sotskova
Russian Figure skater
- Maria Ewing
opera singer & Rebecca Hall's mother
- Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko
Russian tennis player
- Maria Louise Kanellis
American pro wrestler
- Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
Spanish tennis player
- Maria Teresa Dizzia
American actress
- Maria Pitillo
American actress
- Maria Lewis
Reynolds, Alexander Hamilton's mistress
- Maria Hester
U.S. President James Monroe's child
- Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow
American actress
- Maria Goeppert
Mayer, physicist & Nobel prize winner
- Maria V Snyder
American novelist
- Maria Gripe (Maja Stina Walter)
Swedish children's novelist
- Maria Augusta von Trapp
Austrian singer (Sound of Music)
- Maria Muldaur (Maria D'Amato)
American singer,songwriter
- Maria Edgeworth
Anglo,Irish children's novelist
- Maria Menounos
American actress and TV presenter
- Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart
Austrian musician
- Maria Margarethe Anna Schell
Austrian,Swiss actress
- Maria Sara Bartiromo
American journalist
- Maria Mazowiecka
princess of Masovia
- Maria Antonina (Maryla) Rodowicz
Polish singer
- Maria Zofia Dulęba
Polish actress
- Maria aka Gentlewhispering
YouTuber
- Maria Adela
daughter of American actress Penelope Miller
- Maria Makino
Japanese pop singer and member of Morning Musume
- Maria Tolkacheva
Russian rhythmic gymnast
- Maria Kravtsova
Russian rhythmic gymnast
- Anastasia Maria Dogrammatzi
Greek rhythmic gymnast
- Maria Ioanna Mandellou
Greek rhythmic gymnast
- Maria Sol Perez
model called "Argentina's hottest weather girl"
- Maria Montessori
Italian physician and educator
- Maria Reiche
German archaeologist
- Maria Sibylla Merian
German naturalist
- Maria Teresa Mirabal
Dominican activist
Maria in pop culture
- Maria von Trapp
main character in "The Sound of Music"
- Maria Nunez
main character in musical "West Side Story"
- Maria Merryweather
character in "The Little White Horse"
- Maria Wong
character in animated series "Braceface"
- Maria Moonlit
or Alice Merry,Go,Round, mother of Adam Moonlit and false prophet in the Evillious Chronicles
- Maria Ruiz
character on TV's "Orange Is the New Black"
- Maria Hill
Marvel comics and movies character
- Maria Stark
character from Marvel's Iron Man and mother of Tony Stark
- Maria
character from video game Silent Hill 2
- Maria
character from Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost"
- Maria
wall 'protecting' humanity in anime 'Attack on Titan'
- Maria Duszynska
character from Wood's "Night Trains"
- Maria Jane Connor
from British soap "Coronation Street"
- Maria Santos Grey
character on soap "All My Children"
- Maria Roberts
character on soap "One Life to Live"
- Maria
maid in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night"
- Maria Mendoza
character in "The House of the Scorpion"
- Maria Dias
character in G. A. Henty's "Treasure of the Incas"
- María Posada
character in animated film "The Book of Life"
- Maria
character on TV's "Sesame Street"
- Maria Bertram
character in Jane Austen's novel "Mansfield Park"
- Maria Nikolaevna Bolkonskaya
character in "War & Peace"
- Maria Akizuki
character in "From the New World"
- Maria "Masha" Ovchinnikova
character in "Not Dead or Undead"
- Maria Stokes
character in the Addicted Series
- Cala Maria
character in the videogame “Cuphead”
- "Maria
" song by Green Day
- "O Maria
" song by Beck
- "Maria
" song by Ricky Martin
- "Maria
" song by Blondie
- "They Call the Wind Maria
" song in "Paint Your Wagon"
- Maria Renard
character in the video game series "Castlevania"
Variations & nicknames
- MaliSpanish
- MaritzaSpanish