Maria (given name)
Maria is a feminine given name. It is given in many languages influenced by Christianity.
| Gender | feminine |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Coptic |
| Meaning | Several meanings: 1) "bitter", 2) "beloved", 3)"rebelliousness", 4)"wished-for child", 5)"marine", 6)"drop of the sea", 7)"famous"[1] |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Mariah, Marie, Marija, Mariya |
| Related names | Mary, Maryam, Miriam, Mari, Maya |
It was used as the feminine form of the unrelated Roman name Marius (see Maria gens),[2] and, after Christianity has spread across the Roman empire, it became the Latinised form of the name of Miriam: Mary, mother of Jesus.
Maria (Greek: Μαρία) is a form of the name used in the New Testament, standing alongside Mariam (Μαριάμ). 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.
In Germanic languages, the name's usage is connected with the Germanic element *mar meaning "famous".
The name is also sometimes used as a male (middle) name. This was historically the case in many Central Europe 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).
In the Arabic language the name Maria (ماريا) (also written: Mariyya, Mariya) means either "white beautiful woman" or "white cow" or "a little bird with the same size as a pigeon",[3] and it is quite popular in North Africa. One of the feminine Sahaba had the name Maria, Maria the Coptic.
Variants and usage
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 María de los Dolores, María del Pilar, María 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.[4]
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, among numerous others, include:
- Anna + Maria (Anne-Marie, Marianne)
- Maria + Luisa (Marie-Louise)
- Maria + Antonia (Maria Antonia, French Marie-Antoinette)
- Maria + Helena (Italian Maria Elena, Spanish María Elena)
- Maria + Teresa (Maria Theresa, French Marie Thérèse)
- Maria + {Issa} Marissa or Marisa Christian Nazareth
- Maria + {Saiyra} Mary-Saiyra or Saiyra Mary Christian Antioch
As a feminine given name, Maria ranked 109th in the United States as of 2015, down from rank 31 held during 1973–1975.[5] The English form Mary was at rank 214 as of 2015, after a much steeper decline down from being raked first consistently during 1880–1968.[6]
Spelling variants of Maria include: Mária (Hungarian, Slovakian), María (Greek, Icelandic, Spanish), Máire and Muire (Irish), Marya (transliterated from Cyrillic), Marija (Latvian, but also used in other Balto-Slavic languages) and Maria (Polish). Due to a very strong devotion of Irish and Polish Catholics to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a special exception is made for two other forms of her name – Muire and Maryja: no one else may take that name, similar to the way the name Jesus is not used in most languages. The English form Mary is derived via French Marie.
A great number of hypocoristic forms are in use in numerous languages. Cyrillic Maryam and Miriam have numerous variants, such as
- Mariami (Georgian)
- Mariamma, biblical Mariamme, Mariamne
- Məryəm (Azerbaijani)
- Meryem (Kurdish, Turkish)
- Myriam (French)
The spelling in Semitic abjads is mrym: Aramaic ܡܪܝܡ, Hebrew מרים, Arabic مريم.
Cyrillic spellings are Мария (Maríja) (Russian, Bulgarian), Марыя (Marýja) (Belarusian), Марія (Maríja) (Ukrainian) and Марија (Marija) (Serbian, Macedonian).
Georgian uses მარიამ (Mariam) and მარია (Maria); Armenian has Մարիամ (Mariam).
Chinese has adopted the spelling 瑪麗 (simplified 玛丽, pinyin Mǎlì).
The variant Mariah (usually pronounced /məˈraɪə/) was rarely given in the United States prior to the 1990s, when it bounced in popularity, from rank 562 in 1989 to rank 62 in 1998, in imitation of the name of singer Mariah Carey (whose Vision of Love topped the charts in 1990).
People
- Maaria Eira, Finnish opera singer and actress
- Maria of Russia (several people)
- Maria al-Qibtiyya
- Maria I of Portugal (1734-1816), Queen of Portugal
- María Conchita Alonso (born 1957), American singer/songwriter and actress
- Maria Ahtisa Manalo, Miss International Philippines 2018
- Maria Andrejczyk (born 1996), Polish jevelin thrower
- Maria Ângela Carrascalão, East Timorese politician
- Maria II of Portugal (1818-1853), Queen of Portugal
- María Alanoca (born 1960), Bolivian politician
- María Fernanda Aristizábal (born 1997), Colombian model and beauty pageant titleholder
- María Azambuya (1944–2011), Uruguayan actress and theatre director
- Maria Bamford (born 1970), American stand-up comedian, actress, and voice actress
- María Bazo (born 1998), Peruvian windsurfer
- Maria E. Beasley, American inventor
- Maria Beig (1920–2018), German author
- Maria Bello (born 1967), American actress and writer
- María Belón (born 1966), Spanish physician and motivational speaker
- Maria Berényi (born 1959), Romanian Hungarian historian and poet
- Maria Elisabeth Bes (1882–1938), Dutch chemical engineer, city councillor in Delft
- Maria Brink (born 1977), American singer and songwriter
- Maria Bucur (born 1968), Romanian-American historian
- María Bolívar (born 1975), Venezuelan politician
- María Marcos Cedillo Salas (1910-1933), first female pilot in Mexico.
- Maria Callas (1923–1977), Greek-American soprano
- Maria Callani (1778–1803), Italian 18th century portrait painter active in Parma[7]
- Maria Cantwell (born 1958), U.S. Senator
- Maria Amélia Chaves (1911–2017) Portuguese civil engineer.
- Maria Cole (1922–2012), American jazz singer
- Maria Colwell (1965–1973), British female murder victim
- Maria Christina (several people)
- Maria Dallas, New Zealand singer
- Maria Damanaki (born 1952), Greek politician
- Maria d'Apparecida (1926–2017), Brazilian opera singer
- Maria Darling, British voice actress
- Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz, East Timorese religious sister
- Maria de Vasconcelos (born 1970), Portuguese psychiatrist, singer and songwriter
- Maria do Céu Sarmento, East Timorese politician
- Maria Domingas Alves, East Timorese politician
- Maria Durhuus (born 1977), Danish politician
- Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849), Anglo-Irish writer of adults' and children's literature
- Maria Luisa Escolar, Colombian pediatrician
- María Escudero-Escribano (born 1983), Spanish chemist
- Maria Louise Eve (1842–1900), American poet
- Maria Ewing (1950–2022), American opera singer
- Maria Farantouri (born 1947), Greek singer
- María Fernanda Di Giacobbe (born 1964), Venezuelan chocolatier
- Maria Foser, Liechtensteiner politician
- Maria Fyfe (1938–2020), Scottish politician
- María Esther García López (born, 1948), poet, writer; president, Asturias Writers Association
- María la Grande (c. 1789–1841), prominent Tehuelche leader of the early 19th century
- Maria Guyomar de Pinha (1664–1728), Siamese cook
- Maria Harfanti (born 1992), Miss World Indonesia 2015
- Maria Höfl-Riesch (born 1984), German alpine skier
- María Holly (born 1932), widow of rock and roll pioneer Buddy Holly
- Maria Iliou (born 1960) Greek film director, scriptwriter and producer
- Maria James (1793–1868), Welsh-born American poet
- Maria Wanda Jastrzębska (1924–1988), Polish electronics engineer, taught at Silesian University of Technology and Opole University of Technology.
- Maria Jane Jewsbury (1800–1833), English writer, poet, literary reviewer
- María José (several people)
- Maria Kanellis (born 1982), American professional wrestler
- Maria Kekkonen, Finnish erotic actress
- Maria Brace Kimball (1852–1933), American educator, elocutionist, writer
- Maria Kochetkova (born 1984), Russian ballet dancer
- Maria Kovrigina (1910–1995), Russian physician and Soviet minister of health
- Maria Kowroski (born 1976), American ballet dancer
- Maria Lampadaridou Pothou (1933–2023), Greek novelist, poet and playwright
- Maria Elise Turner Lauder (1833–1922), Canadian writer
- Maria Lauterbach (1987–2007), American murder victim
- Maria Lioudaki (1894–1947), Greek educator, folklorist, and resistance fighter
- Maria Lohela (born 1978), Finnish politician
- Maria White Lowell (1821–1853), American poet, abolitionist
- Maria Lugones (1944–2020), American philosopher
- Maria Pappa (born 1971), Swiss politician
- Maria Lynn Ehren (born 1992), Thai singer and model
- Maria Laura Mainetti (1939–2000), Italian Catholic sister and murder victim
- María Emma Mannarelli (born 1954), Peruvian feminist writer, historian, professor
- Maria Mandl (1912–1948), Austrian Nazi SS commandant of the female camp at Auschwitz concentration camp executed for war crimes
- Maria Rika Maniates (1937–2011), Canadian musicologist
- Maria Rosaria Manieri (born 1943), Italian academic and socialist politician
- María Marcano de León, Puerto Rican government official
- Maria Mazina (born 1964), Russian Olympic champion épée fencer
- Maria Alberta Menéres (1930–2019), Portuguese writer
- Maria Montessori (1870–1952), Italian educator
- Maria Naganawa (長縄 まりあ, born 1995), Japanese voice actress
- Maria Nikiforova (1885–1919), Ukrainian anarchist partisan
- María Beatriz Nofal, Argentine economist and civil servant
- María José Orellana (born 1981), Guatemalan beach volleyball player
- Maria Ozawa (小澤 マリア, born 1986), Japanese actress
- Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma (born 1934)
- Maria Palmer (1917–1981), Austrian-born American actress
- María Luisa Pérez-Soba (1930–2021) first woman agricultural engineer in Galicia.
- Maria Petri (1939–2022), English association football supporter
- Maria Posobchuk (1890–1992), Ukrainian weaver
- Maria Rahajeng (born 1991), Miss World Indonesia 2014
- Maria Goretti, a victim of crime and saint
- Maria Rasputin (1898–1977), memoirist
- María Teresa Rejas (born 1946), Spanish politician
- Maria Ressa (born 1963), Filipino-American author, journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- Maria Reynolds (1768–1828), wife of James Reynolds
- Maria Sakkari (born 1995), Greek professional tennis player
- María Elena Salinas, American broadcast journalist, news anchor, and author
- Maria Selena (born 1990), Indonesian beauty pageant titleholder who won Puteri Indonesia 2011
- Maria Sharapova (born 1987), Russian professional tennis player
- Maria Shriver (born 1955), American journalist and activist
- Maria Simonds-Gooding (born 1939), Indian-born Anglo-Irish artist
- Maria Antónia Siza (1940–1973), Portuguese artist
- Maria Brewster Brooks Stafford (1809–1896), American educator
- Maria Strömkvist (born 1964), Swedish politician
- Maria Tenazi (1903–1930), Soviet Armenian silent film actress
- Maria Theresa (several people)
- Maria von Trapp (1905–1987), Austrian-born American singer
- María Valverde (born 1987), Spanish actress
- Maria Eulália Vares, Brazilian mathematical statistician and probability theorist
- Maria Vasilkova (born 1978), Russian politician
- Maria Chantal Videla (born 2002), Filipino-Argentine actress, model and singer of K-pop girl group Lapillus
- Maria Walliser (born 1963), Swiss alpine skier
- Maria Watkins (1918–2010) defence electronics engineer, lecturer and President of the Women's Engineering Society.
- Maria Torrence Wishart (1893 – 1982), Canadian medical illustrator and the founder of the University of Toronto's Art as Applied to Medicine program
- Maria Zandbang (1886–1972), Polish equestrian
- Maria Yusuf, Ethiopian activist
Fictional characters
- Maria, a fictional character played by Laura Nicole in the British web series Corner Shop Show
- Maria, a villain character in the tokusatsu Chōjin Sentai Jetman
- Maria, the youngest princess of Macedon in the Fire Emblem video game series.
- Maria, a character from the American television series Sesame Street
- Maria (West Side Story), the main female protagonist from the musical West Side Story
- Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower, a boss character from The Old Hunters DLC for the video game Bloodborne
- Maria Calavera, a supporting character in the animated web series RWBY
- María Clara, a character from the novel Noli Me Tángere (novel) by Filipino writer and activist José Rizal
- Grace Maria Fleed, a character from the anime Grendizer.
- Maria Fritz, the daughter of Ymir Fritz, namesake of Wall Maria and a minor character in the anime and manga Attack on Titan
- Maria Hojo, a supporting character from Suite PreCure
- Maria Jackson, a character from The Sarah Jane Adventures
- Maria Kasugano, a minor character from Yes! PreCure 5
- Maria Renard, a character in the Castlevania video game series
- Maria Tobari, one of protagonists from Psycho Dream
- Maria Robotnik, a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series
- Maria Saotome, a minor character from Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure
- Maria von Trapp, the main female protagonist of the musical The Sound of Music
- Maria Wong, a character from the Canadian animated television series Braceface
See also
- Maria (disambiguation)
References
- "Maria". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- Morales Cara, Manuel (2005). La Esclavitud en las Colonias Romanas de Andalucia (PDF) (PhD thesis) (in Spanish). Universidad de Granada. ISBN 84-338-3382-0. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
- الشناوي, عيد (1 January 2022). آراء الکوفيين في مبنيات الأسماء وأثرها الدلالي في تفسير القرطبي. مجلة علوم العربية. 2 (3): 177–192. doi:10.21608/malu.2022.99255.1006. ISSN 2786-0000.
- Hough, Carole; Izdebska, Daria, eds. (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming. Oxford University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0199656431.
- "Maria". behindthename.com. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- "Mary". behindthename.com. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- Lavagetto Ceschi, Paola (1973). "Callani, Gaetano". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 16 – via Treccani.