Entry № 6476 · Latin origin

Maria Maria — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ mah-REE-ah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Latin
Meaning
"Beloved; bitter; longed-for child"
Syllables
3
First recorded
Ancient (Hebrew Bible)

A name that means "beloved; bitter; longed-for child".

Maria is the Latin form of Mary — from the Hebrew Miriam. The meaning is debated; possibilities include "beloved," "longed-for child," "bitter," or "princess of the sea." The name has been borne by the mother of Jesus and by sister of Moses, Miriam.

Maria is one of the most common girl names in the world, used across Christianity in Latin America, Spain, Italy, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe. In the U.S.

Beloved; bitter; longed-for child — a Latin name.

The name in its native script.

מִרְיָם
Transliteration
Miryam
Pronunciation
/ məˈriː.ə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Maria stands.

Maria does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Marias before her.

Real people
Maria Callas
American-Greek operatic soprano.
1923 – 1977
Maria Sharapova
Russian tennis player.
born 1987
In fiction
Maria
Heroine of The Sound of Music.
1965 film
Maria
Heroine of West Side Story.
1957 musical

Names connected to Maria.

The number behind Maria.

6

The Nurturer

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Maria reduce to 6, The Nurturer. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.