# Mary (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/mary/  
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 | Aramaic |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmɛəɹi/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Minnie, Mamie, Mayme, Poll |
| Variant spellings | Marie, Marion, Maura, Marye |
| US babies named this | 4,156,654 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 15,173 / 4,141,481 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 7,334, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Marie, from Old French Marie, from Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία (María), Μαριάμ (Mariám), from post-Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic מַרְיָם (Maryām), from Biblical Hebrew מִרְיָם (Miryām), of uncertain meaning. (See the Hebrew entry for more.) Doublet of Miriam, Marie, Maria, and Mariah.

## 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 | 2,715 | 112 |
| 2012 | 2,587 | 121 |
| 2013 | 2,669 | 118 |
| 2014 | 2,637 | 120 |
| 2015 | 2,642 | 123 |
| 2016 | 2,526 | 126 |
| 2017 | 2,425 | 126 |
| 2018 | 2,369 | 126 |
| 2019 | 2,241 | 126 |
| 2020 | 2,230 | 123 |
| 2021 | 2,102 | 132 |
| 2022 | 2,119 | 134 |
| 2023 | 2,085 | 133 |
| 2024 | 2,219 | 131 |
| 2025 | 2,230 | 125 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 13 | 4,853 |
| 1998 | 14 | 4,799 |
| 1999 | 11 | 5,909 |
| 2000 | 10 | 6,656 |
| 2001 | 14 | 5,313 |
| 2002 | 12 | 5,950 |
| 2003 | 9 | 7,622 |
| 2004 | 31 | 3,193 |
| 2005 | 10 | 7,476 |
| 2006 | 10 | 7,806 |
| 2007 | 10 | 7,974 |
| 2010 | 5 | 13,555 |
| 2012 | 6 | 11,751 |
| 2014 | 5 | 13,342 |
| 2020 | 5 | 13,364 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 200 | 250 |
| 2012 | 209 | 241 |
| 2013 | 203 | 244 |
| 2014 | 229 | 225 |
| 2015 | 198 | 249 |
| 2016 | 204 | 250 |
| 2017 | 150 | 320 |
| 2018 | 189 | 259 |
| 2019 | 170 | 289 |
| 2020 | 160 | 291 |
| 2021 | 148 | 318 |
| 2022 | 130 | 330 |
| 2023 | 145 | 301 |
| 2024 | 128 | 337 |
| 2025 | 131 | 329 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: مَرْيَم, مَارِي
- Armenian: Մարիամ
- Bulgarian: Мари́я
- Catalan: Maria
- Chinese: 瑪麗 /玛丽, 瑪莉 /玛莉
- Czech: Marie
- Danish: Maria, Marie
- Dutch: Maria
- Esperanto: Mario
- Estonian: Maarja
- Finnish: Maria, Marja
- French: Marie
- Georgian: მარიამ, მარია
- German: Maria
- Greek: Μαρία, Μαίρη
- Hebrew: מִרְיָם
- Hindi: मैरी, मेरी, मरियम, मारिया
- Hungarian: Mária
- Icelandic: María
- Indonesian: Mariam

## People named Mary

- Mary Shelley, English writer (1797–1851)
- Mary Wollstonecraft, English writer and intellectual (1759–1797)
- Mary Pickford, Canadian actress and producer (1892–1979)
- Mary Cassatt, American painter and printmaker (1844—1926)
- Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Mary McAleese, 8th President of Ireland
- Mary Tyler Moore, American actress and television producer (1936-2017)
- Mary Astor, American actress and author (1906–1987)
- Mary Anning, British fossil collector and palaeontologist (1799–1847)
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead, American actress (born 1984)
- Mary Steenburgen, American actress, singer and songwriter
- Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865

## 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.