Maria - Meaning of Maria

What does Maria mean?

[ 3 syll. ma-ria, mar-ia ] The baby girl name Maria is also used as a boy name, though it is far more popular for girls. It is pronounced in English as Mah-RIY-ah, in Dutch, German and Italian as Maa-RIY-aa, or in Polish as MAAR-Yaa †. Maria has its origins in the Hebrew language. It is used largely in Basque, Catalan, Corsican, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Scandinavian, Spanish, Armenian, Estonian, Hungarian, Russian, and Slavic. The name Maria means 'sea of bitterness; rebelliousness; wished-for child; to swell'. It is derived from the word mirjam with the meaning 'bitterness'. Original forms of the name include Maria (Latin and Old Greek), Mariam (Old Greek), Mariamne (Hebrew), Maryam (Aramaic), and Miryam (Hebrew). Maria is the usual European form of the English name Mary. It was the name of two queens of Portugal. The name has been widely adopted by English speakers since the 16th century. It has appeared in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599) and Twelfth Night (1601). It is also the name of the heroine in the Leonard Bernstein musical West Side Story (1957). See Maria for more information.

Maria is an Armenian, Basque, Catalan, Corsican, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish form of the English Mary.

Maria is the feminine equivalent of the name Marianus and the Dutch, English, French, German, Romanian, and Scandinavian Marius.

The name Maria is used to a great extent; it has 54 forms that are used in English and foreign languages. English forms of Maria include Maeria, Maie, Malia, Mareah, Mariabell, Mariabella, Mariabelle, Mariae, Marialena, Marialinda, Marialisa, Mariasha, Mariesa, Mariessa, Marija, Marria, Mary, Mayria, and Mía. Other English forms include the shortenings Mia (used in Dutch, German, and Scandinavian as well) and Ria (used in Dutch, German, and as well), the diminutives Mai (used in Scandinavian as well), Mariel (used in Dutch, German, and Scandinavian as well), Mariela (used in Dutch and German as well), Mariella (used in Italian and as well), Marietta (used in Italian and French as well), Mariette (used in French and as well), Marika (used in Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Polish, Scandinavian, and Slavic as well), Mariska (used in Czech, Hungarian, and Slavic as well), Marita (used in Dutch, German, Spanish and Italian as well), Maritza (used in Spanish and as well), Mimi (used in Italian and German as well), and Mitzi (used in German and as well), and the spelling variants Marea, Mariah, and Mariha.

Forms used in foreign languages include Maaria (Finnish), Maarja (Estonian), Mariya (Russian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), María (Galician and Spanish), Marja (Dutch and Finnish), Marjo (Finnish), and Mária (Hungarian and Slavic). Specific foreign forms include the diminutives Maaike (Dutch), Maike (Frisian and German), Maiken (Scandinavian, Frisian, and German), Maj (Scandinavian), Maja (German, Polish, Scandinavian, and Slavic), Manja (Russian), Manya (Russian), Maraike (German), Marei (German), Mareike (Frisian and German), Marieke (Dutch and German), Mariele (German), Marijke (Dutch), Mariola (Italian), Mariquita (Spanish), Maritere (Spanish), Maritxu (Basque), Marjet (Dutch), Maryla (Polish), Marzena (Polish), Masha (Russian and Ukrainian), Meike (Dutch, German, and Frisian), Mie (Scandinavian), Mieke (Dutch and German), Miep (Dutch), Mies (Dutch), Mimmi (German and Italian), My (Scandinavian), and Rie (Dutch).


See also the related forms, Annamaria, Eva Maria, Floramaria, Lisamaria, Luzmaria, Maite, Maria Carmen, Maria Teresa, Mariaelena, Marianela, Mariangela, Marianna, Marianne, Maribella, Marilena, Marilou, Marirrosa, Marisa, Marisol, Marlene, Marlies, Marlisa, Marloes, Milena, Milva, Rosamaria, and Maite.

See also the related categories, queens, mary, romanian, night (dark), armenian, english, greek, hebrew, latin, aramaic, slavic, sea, heroine (conqueror), portuguese, estonian, spanish, catalan, italian, czech, dutch, polish, scandinavian, finnish, german, hungarian, and russian.

Maria is an all-time favorite. Currently it is still popular as a baby girl name, but not as much as it was in the past. The name grew in popularity from the 1910s up to the 1960s; prior to that, it was of only modest use. Its usage peaked in 1966 with 0.518% of baby girls being named Maria. It had a ranking of #44 then. The baby name has dropped in popularity since then. In 2018, it ranked at #116 with a usage of 0.141%, but it was nevertheless the 2nd most popular after Mia, among all girl names in its family. It was 5 times more popular than Maria in 2018. Maria has mainly been a baby girl name in the last century. There were 60 times more baby girls than boys who were named Maria in 1989.

Baby names that sound like Maria include María, Maarja, Marja, Marya, Maaria, Machara, Macharia, Magarah, Magarra, Maharae, Maharey, Mahari, Maharie, Mahary, Mahira, Maila, Maira, Maisara, Maisarah, and Makarra.

† Pronunciation for Maria: M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; R as in "race (R.EY.S)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; Y as in "you (Y.UW)"

Which Famous Persons bear the name Maria?





Details of famous persons named Maria:
Actress Mia Farrow, born Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow 9 February 1945, Los Angeles, California.
Actress Maria Felix, born Maria de los Angeles Felix Guerena 8 April 1914 - 8 April 2002, Alamos, Mexico.
Educator Maria Montessori, born 31 August 1870 - 1952, Rome, Italy.
Opera Singer Maria Callas, born December 2, 1923 - September 16, 1977, Manhattan, New York.
Painter Angelica Kauffmann, born Maria Anna Angelika 30 October 1741 - 5 November 1807, Graubünden, Switzerland.
Political Relative Teresa Heinz Kerry, born Maria Teresa Thierstein Simoes-Ferreira 5 October 1938.
Politician Eva (Evita) Peron, born Maria Eva Ibarguren 7 May 1919 - 26 July 1952, Los Toldos, Argentina.
Royalty Marie Antoinette, born Maria Antonia 2 November 1755 - 16 October 1793, Vienna, Austria.
Scientist Marie Curie, born Maria Sklodowska 7 November 1867 - 4 July 1934, Warsaw, Poland.
Tennis Player Maria Sharapova, born 19 April 1987, Nyagan, Russia.

Meaning of Maria Meaning of Ria Meaning of Marzena Meaning of Maritza Meaning of My Meaning of Mimi Meaning of Maja Meaning of Mai Meaning of Mariel Meaning of Marialisa Meaning of Mary Meaning of Maarja Meaning of Malia Meaning of Mariabella Meaning of Marisol Meaning of Marianne Meaning of Marlies Meaning of Milva Meaning of Maite Meaning of Marius Meaning of Marianus Meaning of Maria Meaning of Floramaria Meaning of Marilou Meaning of Marirrosa Meaning of Marisa Meaning of Marlene Meaning of Marlisa Meaning of Marloes Meaning of Milena Meaning of Rosamaria Meaning of Annamaria Meaning of Marilena Meaning of Maribella Meaning of Marianna Meaning of Lisamaria Meaning of Luzmaria Meaning of Maite Meaning of Maria Carmen Meaning of Maria Teresa Meaning of Mariaelena Meaning of Mariamne Meaning of Marianela Meaning of Eva Maria Meaning of Mariangela
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