Mariana
Meaning
bitter grace
Goes by Mari
Famously borne by Mariana Pajon, Colombia's two-time Olympic BMX champion and national hero.
The story
Mariana is Maria and Ana joined, which our records gloss the traditional way, bitter grace, the two old readings riding together. It is a Spanish and Portuguese classic with a patient American century, under 500 a decade into the 1960s, then the build: about 1,000, 2,300, 6,100, then 15,900 in the 2000s, easing to 11,000 and 7,400 so far this decade. Every one of them this decade a girl. The deepest place on the planet carries the name too, the Mariana Trench, named for a queen, which gives the name a fact no playground can top. In our records it counts about 45,900 girls to 85 boys. Mari does the everyday work in Spanish. Two grandmothers in one name, an ocean's deepest point, and a sound that needs no translation anywhere south of Texas: Mariana carries plenty, gracefully.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Mariana peaked in the 2020s.
Popularity in Brazil
451,762 people · the #53 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 449 · median age 21
Among people named Mariana living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 28,973 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Mariana
Most people given the name Mariana in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Mariana deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Mariana 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 Mariana fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Mariana · Nicknames for Mariana · Spanish baby names · Portuguese and Brazilian baby names · Action sports names
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