The Glorification of Mary by
Botticelli. The reverence for
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is in large part responsible for the use of the name Mary and its variants.
Mary/ˈmɛəˌri/ is a
femininegiven name, the English form of the name
Maria, which was in turn a
Latin form of the Greek name Μαρία, María or Μαριάμ, Mariam, found in the
Septuagint and
New Testament. The latter reflects the original Hebrew pronunciation of the name מרים (
Masoretic pronunciation Miryam), as attested by the Septuagint. The vowel "a" in a closed unaccented syllable later became "i", as seen in other names such as "Bil'am" (
Balaam) and "Shimshon" (
Samson).
The name may have originated from the
Egyptian language; it is likely derivative of the root mr, meaning "love; beloved"[1] (compare mry.t-ymn, "Merit-Amun", i.e. "beloved of
Amun").
The name was early etymologized as containing the Hebrew root mr, meaning "bitter" (cf.
myrrh), or mry, meaning "rebellious".
St. Jerome (writing
c. 390), following
Eusebius of Caesarea, translates the name as "drop of the sea" (stilla maris in
Latin), from the Hebrew מר, mar, 'drop' (cf. Isaiah 40:15)[2] and ים, yam, 'sea'.
Rashi, an 11th-century Jewish commentator on the Bible, wrote that the name was given to the sister of Moses because of the Egyptians' harsh treatment of Jews in Egypt. Rashi wrote that the Israelites lived in Egypt for 210 years, including 86 years of cruel enslavement that began at the time Moses' elder sister was born. Therefore, the girl was called Miriam, because the Egyptians made life bitter (מַר, mar) for her people.[3]
Mary is still among the top 100 names for baby girls born in Ireland,[7] common amongst Christians there and also popularised amongst Protestants specifically, with regard to
Queen Mary II, co-monarch and wife of
William III. Mary was the 179th most popular name for girls born in England and Wales in 2007, ranking behind other versions of the name.
In the
United States, Mary was consistently the most popular name for girls from 1880 until 1961. It first fell below the top 100 most popular names in 2009. By contrast, the latinate (especially Spanish) form Maria rose into the top 100 in 1944, peaking at rank 31 in the 1970s, but also falling below rank 100 once again in 2012.
The name Mary remains more popular in the
Southern United States than elsewhere in the country. Mary was the 15th most popular name for girls born in
Alabama in 2007,[8] the 22nd most popular name for girls born in
Mississippi in 2007,[8] the 44th most popular name for girls in
North Carolina,[8] the 33rd most popular name for girls in
South Carolina,[8] and the 26th most popular name for girls in
Tennessee.[8]
Mary was still the most common name for women and girls in the United States in the 1990 census.[9]
Based on data from the
Social Security Administration, Mary is the seventh most common given name in the United States, with 2.16 million individuals bearing this name as of 2023. [10]
Mariah had a short-lived burst of popularity after 1990, when singer
Mariah Carey first topped the charts, peaking at rank 62 in 1998.[11]
Molly, a pet form, was ranked as the 29th most popular name there and spelling variant Mollie at No. 107; Maria was ranked at No. 93; Maryam was ranked at No. 116 as of 2007.[12]
Mary of Modena (1658–1718), Queen consort of King James II of England and VII of Scotland
Mary II of England (1662–1694), daughter of James VII and II, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, wife of King William III and joint ruler with him
^Rashi.
"Commentary on Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs)". p. 2:13. "From the time that Miriam was born, the Egyptians intensified the bondage upon Israel; therefore, she was called Miriam, because they made it bitter (מַר) for them."
^Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle and Flavia Hodges (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press.
ISBN0198610602.
^See Iain Gardner, Alanna Nobbs and Malcolm Choat, "P. Harr. 107: Is This Another Greek Manichaean Letter?" Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 131 (2000), pp. 120f.
JSTOR20190663.
^"Wolfram Alpha: Mary". January 1, 2020. Archived from the original on August 2, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)
Rosenkrantz, Linda and Satran, Pamela Redmond (2005). Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana, Fourth Edition. St. Martin's Paperbacks.
ISBN0-312-94095-5.
Todd, Loreto (1998). Celtic Names for Children. Irish American Book Company.
ISBN0-9627855-6-3.
Wallace, Carol (2004). The Penguin Classic Baby Name Book. Penguin.
ISBN0-14-200470-7.
Wood, Jamie Martinez (2001). ¿Cómo te llamas, Baby? Berkley.
ISBN0-425-17959-1.