# Mara (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/mara/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “bitterness”, “bitter” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 24,054 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 16 / 24,038 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,215, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Hebrew מָרָא (mara, “bitterness”), derived from Hebrew מַר (mar, “bitter”). The modern given name may also be shortened from Maria or Tamara.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 312 | 846 |
| 2012 | 336 | 798 |
| 2013 | 366 | 742 |
| 2014 | 409 | 694 |
| 2015 | 383 | 737 |
| 2016 | 427 | 686 |
| 2017 | 440 | 668 |
| 2018 | 432 | 676 |
| 2019 | 439 | 663 |
| 2020 | 463 | 628 |
| 2021 | 568 | 540 |
| 2022 | 478 | 620 |
| 2023 | 516 | 581 |
| 2024 | 515 | 589 |
| 2025 | 499 | 589 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 5 | 6,984 |
| 1983 | 6 | 5,951 |
| 1989 | 5 | 8,739 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 24 | 1,295 |
| 2012 | 32 | 1,075 |
| 2013 | 41 | 900 |
| 2014 | 41 | 907 |
| 2015 | 45 | 831 |
| 2016 | 70 | 605 |
| 2017 | 54 | 740 |
| 2018 | 70 | 587 |
| 2019 | 97 | 432 |
| 2020 | 80 | 505 |
| 2021 | 97 | 449 |
| 2022 | 74 | 526 |
| 2023 | 76 | 516 |
| 2024 | 118 | 369 |
| 2025 | 74 | 538 |

## People named Mara

- Mara Wilson, American actress
- Mara Corday, American actor and model (1930–2025)
- Mara Abbott, American racing cyclist
- Mara Scherzinger, German actress
- Mara Buneva, Bulgarian revolutionary
- Mara Lakić, Bosnian basketball player
- Mara Gabrilli, Brazilian psychologist and politician
- Mara Belcheva, Bulgarian poet (1868-1937)
- Mara Lane, Austrian actress
- Mara Manzan, Brazilian actress (1952-2009)
- Mara Yamauchi, British long distance track, and road running athlete
- Mara Mattuschka, Austrian film director

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.