Maria
Torn between Maria and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
traditionally linked to the Virgin Mary; bitter, or of the sea; the ever-present Spanish classic, woven into countless compound names like María del Carmen
Goes by Masha, Mitzi. See all nicknames
Also written María.
The story
María has been the heartbeat name of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds for so long that the real information moved into what follows it: a tradition arose of naming daughters for Mary's titles and feasts, María del Carmen, María del Pilar, María de los Dolores, whole sisterhoods told apart by their second half. The habit still shows: María Carmen stands first among women's names in Spain, and Maria remains the most common female name in Brazil. It descends from Miriam of the Hebrew scriptures, its deepest meaning long debated, and in several countries, Germany and Poland among them, it even serves as a masculine middle name: the poet Rilke carried one. Portugal crowned it twice over, with two ruling queens named Maria. Broadway simply sang it: "Maria" is the song Tony gives the name in West Side Story. A name so loved that whole cultures conjugate it.
Maria across languages
One shared root links 17 names across 9 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Miryam, its meaning long debated; traditional glosses run "bitter" and "beloved", with an Egyptian root meaning "love" also argued
The constellation
10 more branches of this family
Maria in song
Maria, Maria
Milton Nascimento (1978)
Composed by Milton Nascimento in 1976 for Grupo Corpo's first ballet and released on Clube da Esquina 2, it became a hymn to the endurance of Brazilian women and is his most-played song in Brazil.
Maria
Blondie (1999)
Jimmy Destri's song about a schoolboy crush gave Blondie a British number one exactly twenty years after their first.
Maria Maria
Santana featuring The Product G&B (2000)
Santana's Grammy-winning comeback single, a barrio love story that sat at number one for ten weeks.
Dear Maria, Count Me In
All Time Low (2008)
All Time Low's pop punk calling card, a letter to a girl named Maria, quietly certified multi-platinum on the loyalty of everyone who was fifteen when it came out.
How popular is Maria around the world?
In the United States, 16,895 babies were named Maria between 2020 and 2025. At the 2022 census, 12,284,478 people in Brazil were named Maria, the 1st most common name, with a median age of 53.
Maria is on the official records of the United States, Brazil, Montevideo, Spain, Poland, Mexico City, Chile, Argentina, Norway, Austria, Ireland, France, Puerto Rico, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, New Zealand and South Australia.
Maria crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record, of a Spanish-speaking one and of Brazil’s 2022 census, which counts people of every age. The full lists: English and Spanish · English and Portuguese · Spanish and Portuguese
United States
1 in 1,300
In the United States, 16,895 babies were named Maria between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Maria peaked in the 1990s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 17
At the 2022 census, 12,284,478 people in Brazil were named Maria, the 1st most common name, with a median age of 53.
Among people named Maria living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 571,118 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
1 in 692011
In Montevideo, 349 girls named Maria were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Spain
1 in 83
In Spain, 543,083 residents are named Maria, the 2nd most common name among women, with a mean age of 48.3 years.
In Spain, Maria was the 4th most common name among girls born in 2024.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Poland
1 in 97
In Poland, 2,536 girls named Maria were born in 2025, the 11th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Maria, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Mexico City City
1 in 100
In Mexico City, there were 1,171 registrations of Maria in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (64 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Chile
1 in 140
In Chile, 1,283 girls were registered as Maria in 2021, every accent spelling counted together, most often written María.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Argentina
1 in 220
In Argentina, 3,056 newborns were given the name Maria in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Norway
1 in 260register 2026
In Norway, 103 girls were given the name Maria in 2025.
share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Austria
1 in 500
In Austria, 151 girls named Maria were born in 2025, the 53rd most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Ireland
1 in 800
In Ireland, 68 girls named Maria were born in 2025, the 74th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
France
1 in 880
In France, about 735 girls named Maria were born in 2025, the 60th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Puerto Rico
1 in 950
In Puerto Rico, 19 babies were named Maria in 2025, and 2,399 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Canada
1 in 1,100
In Canada, 334 girls named Maria were born in 2024, the 72nd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 1,100
In England and Wales, 522 girls named Maria were born in 2025, the 88th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Scotland
1 in 1,200
In Scotland, 37 girls named Maria were registered in 2024, the 120th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
New Zealand
1 in 1,500
In New Zealand, 38 girls named Maria were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
1 in 6,1002017
In South Australia, 3 girls were registered as Maria in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Maria is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
When you meet Maria
People given the name Maria in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1960 to 1999. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Maria travels
Mexican American · beloved (Spanish form of Mary); the most common element in Mexican-American women's names, often paired as in Maria Elena
Italian American · carried alongside Anna as one of the most common Italian-American women's names, often used as a middle name
Filipino American · beloved, star of the sea (a near-universal Filipino given or middle name, reflecting over 300 years of Spanish Catholic influence)
Vietnamese American · the Vietnamese Catholic community's most common baptismal name for girls, often used alongside a Vietnamese given name
Filipino · beloved, star of the sea (near-universal Filipino given/middle name)
Polish · bitter, or wished-for child (Polish form of Mary)
Keep exploring
Names like Maria · Names that go with Maria · Nicknames for Maria · Italian American baby names · Filipino baby names · Filipino American baby names · Vietnamese American baby names · Mexican American baby names · Polish baby names
The Maria deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Maria truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Maria fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Maria fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Maria to your family’s tree →