# Mhairi (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/mhairi/  
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 | Scottish Gaelic |
| Meaning | “mary” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈvaːɹi/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 5 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 5 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 195, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic Màiri (“Mary”), which in the vocative case becomes a Mhàiri.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 5 | 15,299 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 3 | 5,201 |
| 2008 | 5 | 3,860 |
| 2009 | 3 | 5,556 |
| 2010 | 4 | 4,688 |
| 2011 | 6 | 3,549 |
| 2012 | 3 | 5,876 |
| 2015 | 4 | 4,736 |
| 2016 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2017 | 4 | 4,763 |
| 2018 | 7 | 3,178 |
| 2019 | 7 | 3,151 |
| 2020 | 3 | 5,493 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,961 |
| 2024 | 7 | 3,318 |
| 2025 | 6 | 3,705 |

## 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.