Maria (given name)
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This article is about the given name. For other uses, see Maria (disambiguation).
Maria
Gender Female
Origin
Language(s) Latin, Syro-Aramaic
Other names
Related names Mary, Marie, Maryam, Miriam
Maria is a feminine given name. It is given in many languages influenced by Latin Christianity. It
has two separate origins: the feminine form of the Roman name Marius (see Maria (gens)),[1] and,
more significantly, as the Latin form of the name of Mary, mother of Jesus.
Maria () is a form of the name used in the New Testament, standing
alongside Mariam . It reflects the Syro-Aramaic name Maryam, which is in turn derived
from the Biblical Hebrew name Miriam. As a result of their similarity and syncretism, the Latin
original name Maria and the Hebrew-derived Maria combined to form a single name.
The name is also sometimes used as a male (middle) name. This was historically the case in
many Central European countries and still is the case in countries with strong Catholic traditions,
where it signified patronage of the Virgin Mary (French-speakers often did the same with Marie).
Besides Maria, Mother of Jesus (see Blessed Virgin Mary or Virgin Mary), there are three other
women named Maria in the New Testament: Maria Magdalena and Maria Salom, disciples of
Jesus and Maria Betnia, sister of Lazarus. In Quranic tradition, the name is rendered Maryam,
but Arabic reflects the Christian given name as Mrya or Mry Mrya al-Qibiiyya, a
Coptic Egyptian woman who was a bondmaid to prophet Muhammad
Contents
[hide]
1Variants and usage
o 1.1Masculine name
2See also
3References
Variants and usage[edit]
The Annunciation by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1850.
Maria was a frequently given name in southern Europe even in the medieval period. In addition
to the simple name, there arose a tradition of naming girls after specific titles of Mary, feast days
associated with Mary and specific Marian apparitions (such as Maria de los Dolores, Maria del
Pilar, Maria del Carmen etc., whence the derived given names of Dolores, Pilar, Carmen etc.).
By contrast, in northern Europe the name only rose to popularity after the Reformation. [2]
Because the name is so frequent in Christian tradition, a tradition of giving compound names has
developed, with a number of such compounds themselves becoming very popular. Examples
include Anna+Maria (Anne-Marie, Marianne, etc.) Maria+Luisa (French Marie-
Louise,) Margarita+Maria (English Margaret Mary, French Marguerite Marie etc.),
Maria+Antonia (Italian Maria Antonia, French Marie-Antoinette etc.) Maria+Helena (Italian Maria
Elena, Spanish Mara Elena), Maria+Teresa, among numerous others.[clarification needed]
As a feminine given name, Maria ranked 109th in the United States as of 2015, down from rank
31 held during 19731975.[3]
Maria is also the given name of a Badass Dispatcher.
Spelling variants of Maria include: Mria (Hungarian, Slovakian), Mara (Galician, Spanish),
Marya, Marija (transliterated from Cyrillic). The English form Mary is derived via French Marie. A
great number of hypocoristic forms are in use in numerous languages.
Maryam and Miriam have numerous variants, such as Georgian Mariami (Georgian) Mariamma,
biblical Mariamme, Mariamne Mrym (Azerbaijani) Meryem (Kurdish, Turkish) Myriam (French)
The spelling in Semitic abjads is mrym: Aramaic , Hebrew , Arabic . Cyrillic has
(Marja) (Belarusian), (Marja) (Russian, Bulgarian). Georgian uses
(Mariam), (Maria); Armenian: . Chinese has adopted the spelling
(simplified , pinyin Ml).
Masculine name[edit]
Maria is used as a part of masculine given names in Roman Catholic tradition. Examples include
the Dukes of Milan Gian Maria Visconti (13881412) and Filippo Maria Visconti(13921447),
Italian composers Giovanni Maria Nanino (1543/41607) and Giovanni Maria Trabaci (c. 1575
1647), English colonist Edward Maria Wingfield (1550 1631), Italian painter Antonio Maria
Vassallo (c. 1620-1664/1673), German composer Carl Maria von Weber (17861826), French
physicist Andr-Marie Ampre (17751836), German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875
1926), French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen (b. 1928), etc
