Mary

What Mary means

Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”

Doublet of Miriam || From Hebrew מִרְיָם (Miryam), possibly from Aramaic מרים (Maryām, “bitter”), from a root מר (m-r) meaning "to be bitter".

Source: Wiktionary, “Mary” (revision 94344069) and “Miriam” (revision 93016875), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Mary?

US: Steady: #123 in 2015, #125 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #249 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1880, when 7,065 girls got the name (#1 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 721 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,933 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,278 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AL (8.46 per 1,000 girls), MS (7.98 per 1,000 girls), AR (4.63 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Mary is #125 in the US and #329 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Mary were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Mira916 US · 135 E&W
• Mara499 US · 74 E&W
• Myra429 US · 86 E&W
• Mari129 US · 32 E&W
• Maira62 US · 76 E&W
• Maura127 US
• Mayra86 US · 18 E&W
• Miri47 US · 20 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Nicknames

• Maire
• Mae
• Mamie
• Maria
• Mariah
• Marian
• Mariana
• Marianne
• Marie
• Marilyn
• Marion
• Marisa

Listed on Wiktionary under “Variants and pet forms”.

If you like Mary

Girls

• Rebecca#349“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Jamie#857Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 12,895 babies; 316 in 2025
• Priscilla#544“former, ancient, old-fashioned”^*
• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*

For a brother

• John#23possibly “God is gracious”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025
• Jon#951Variant of John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Thomas#34“twin”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Mary’s. Rank is US 2025.