Maureen
Meaning
little Mary; a beloved mid-century classic
Goes by Mo
The story
Maureen is the Irish Máirín brought into English spelling, a diminutive of Máire, so the name literally means little Mary. It has been on the US record since the very beginning in the 1890s, and it climbs to a broad mid-century peak across the 1940s through the 1960s, exactly the era Maureen O'Hara ruled the screen, before easing decade by decade into the quiet, steady presence it keeps today. That arc makes Maureen a true mid-century classic: instantly recognizable, warmly Irish, and currently resting in the same vintage waiting room where Beatrice and Winifred sat before their returns. The little Mary of it stays soft no matter what the chart does. Its stillness now leaves room for a future revival without pretending one has already begun.
Maureen around the world
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
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Maureen peaked in the 1940s and the 1960s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
252 people · the #21,580 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 45
Among people named Maureen living in Brazil at the 2022 census, roughly as many were born in the 1970s as in the 1980s, more than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Maureen
People given the name Maureen in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1979. 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.
The Maureen deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Maureen 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 Maureen fits with your family’s names and surname.
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