Mary

Hebrew or Egyptian

"drop of the sea; bitter; beloved; love"

Mary Origin and Meaning

The name Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "drop of the sea; bitter; beloved; love".

Mary is the English form of Maria, which ultimately was derived from the Hebrew name Maryam/Mariam. The original meaning of Maryam is uncertain, but theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew roots mar "drop" and yam "sea"); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah "bitterness"); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr).

Mary, the quintessential New Testament name, was #1 for girls until the mid-twentieth century. Though still popular, Mary is used now mostly for religious or family reasons. If it's style you're after, Mary's many diminutives and derivatives such as Maire, Mamie, May, Mitzi, Molly, Maura, Marietta, and even Maria may seem more fashionable.

Mary was the most popular and enduring female Christian name in the English-speaking world (as were Maria and Marie in Spanish and French) until the 1940s. That was when in the US Mary was finally dethroned by such trendy upstarts as Linda and Karen.

There are six Marys in the Bible, including the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and Mary the mother of Mark, and there have been British royal Marys beginning in the sixteenth century. In earlier times Mary was considered too sacred to be used; it finally gained usage in England in the twelfth century, and by the sixteenth had blanketed the female population, to the point where dozens of pet forms had to be contrived to distinguish one Mary in the family from the others.

The poet Byron deemed Mary a "magic" name, and Bing Crosby proclaimed it "a grand old name." Mary has always been a good-girl name, as reflected by such mid-century icons of propriety and wholesomeness as Mary Poppins and Mary Tyler Moore. The lovely Lady Mary Crawley of Downton Abbey has restored some freshness to the name.

Among the celebs who dropped their birth name of Mary are Meryl Streep, Debbie Reynolds, and Lily Tomlin.

For more detail on the origins and possible meanings of the name Mary, see this excellent post on the subject.

Mary Rank in US Top 1000

# 135 in the US

Mary Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 265 on Nameberry

Mary Popularity

• 135 US 2023
• 265 Nameberry 2024
• 241 Future 2028
• 321 England 2021
• 87 Ireland 2022
• 291 Germany 2016

20 Names Similar to Mary

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Mary.

• Anne
• Sarah
• Margaret
• Catherine
• John
• Elizabeth
• Katherine
• Jane
• Rebecca
• Laura
• Helen
• Marie
• Julia
• Anna
• Ruth
• Martha
• Maria
• Joseph
• Virginia
• Rachel

Famous People Named Mary

• Blessed Virgin Mary mother of Jesus Christ
• Mary Magdalene follower of Jesus Christ
• Mary of Bethany follower of Jesus Christ
• Mary I Queen of England, aka Bloody Mary
• Mary II Queen of England and Scotland, wife of William III
• Mary Stuart Queen of Scots
• Mary Queen of Hungary
• Mary of Guelders Queen consort of James II of Scotland
• Mary of Guise Queen consort of James V of Scotland; mother of Mary, Queen of Scots
• Mary of Modena (born Maria Beatrice Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este) Queen consort of James II and VII of England
• Mary of Teck (born Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes) Queen consort of George V of the U.K.
• Mary Tudor Queen consort of Louis XII of France
• Mary of Austria Queen consort of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia; Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
• Mary Elizabeth Donaldson Crown Princess of Denmark
• Mary Todd Lincoln U.S. First Lady as wife of President Abraham Lincoln
• Mary Pickford (born Gladys Louise Smith) Canadian,American actress
• Mary Sean Young American actress
• Mary Tyler Moore American actress
• Mary Noel Streatfeild English novelist
• Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep American actress
• Mary Willa 'Mamie' Gummer American actress, daughter of actress Meryl Streep
• Mary Anna McCartney daughter of musician Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman McCartney
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead American actress
• Mary Jane Blige American R&B singer
• Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley English novelist
• Mary Stuart Masterson American actress
• Mary Louise Parker, American actress
• Mary Frances Crosby American actress
• Mary Hart (born Mary Johanna Harum) American TV news personality
• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio American actress
• Mary Kate Olsen, American actress and fashion designer; twin of Ashley Olsen
• Mary Katherine Campbell Miss America 1922 and 1923
• Mary Elise Hayden American actress
• Mary Pope Osborne American children's author
• Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin American actress and comedienne
• Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds American actress
• Mary Margaret "Marg" Helgenberger American actress
• Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers) American singer, wife of guitarist Les Paul
• Mary Ellen Mark American photographer
• Mary Byrne Irish singer,songwriter
• Mary Boleyn sister of English Queen consort Anne Boleyn
• Mary Jo Eustace Canadian actress, singer and chef
• Mary Jo Salter American poet
• Mary Charles Jones, American child actress
• Mary Wollstonecraft English author and feminist
• Mary Chapin Carpenter American country music singer
• Mary Eileen McDonnell American actress
• Mary Stuart Princess of England, Scotland and Ireland, daughter of James VI and I
• Mary Henrietta of England Princess Royal, Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau; daughter of Charles I
• Mary Princess of Great Britain, daughter of George II
• Mary Princess of the U.K.; Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, daughter of George III
• (Victoria Alexandra Alice) Mary Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, daughter of George V of the U.K.
• Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge Duchess of Teck; mother of Mary of Teck
• Mary Allin Travers American singer of group Peter, Paul & Mary
• Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson) American Disney artist
• Mary Black Irish singer
• Mary Read English pirate
• Mary Jackson NASA's first African,american female engineer
• Mary O'Hara Alsop American novelist and screenwriter
• Mary Gilmore Australian poet and journalist
• Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs aka Cokie Roberts American TV journalist and author
• Mary Kay Place American actress
• Mary Kay Bergman American voice actress
• Mary Tamm English actress
• Mary Jo Kopechne American political campaign specialist
• Mary Oliver American poet
• Mary Hunter Austin American nature writer
• Mary (Theresa Eleanor) Higgins Clark American novelist
• Mary Westmacott alias of novelist Agatha Christie
• Mary Anning English paleontologist
• Mary Amelia Ingalls sister of novelist Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Mary Kubica American novelist
• Mary Abigail "Abby" Wambach American soccer player
• Mary Cooke Branch Munford, American activist and suffragette
• Mary Clementine Ronstadt (b. 1990) daughter of singer Linda Ronstadt
• Mary Bush (b. 2000) daughter of TV personality Billy Bush
• Mary James Marsden (b. 2005) daughter of actor James Marsden
• Mary James Rust (b. 2017) daughter of Paul Rust and Lesley Arfin
• Mary Iglesias (b. 2020) daughter of Anna Kournikova and Enrique Iglesias
• Mary Shelley English novelist, author of Frankenstein
• Mary Bell (b.1957) English child murderer aged 10,11 in 1968

Mary in Pop Culture

• Mary Lennox main character in F.H. Burnett's "The Secret Garden"
• Mary Grayson character in DC Universe
• Mary Wardwell character in "Sabrina" universe
• "Mary Poppins " series by P.L. Travers, movie, and its main character
• Mary Bennet character in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"
• Mary Malone character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series
• Mary Morstan Watson character in the Sherlock Holmes series
• Mary Jensen main character in film "There's Something About Mary"
• Mary Russell Holmes character in Laurie R. King's Russell and Holmes series
• Mary Iris "Mim" Malone character in "Mosquitoland"
• Mary Sandra Winchester character on TV's "Supernatural"
• Mary Lisbon character in "The Virgin Suicides"
• Mary Shepherd Sunderland, character in video game Silent Hill 2
• Mary Terrafino character in Michael Grant's Gone series
• Mary Katherine (M.K.) main character in movie "Epic"
• Mary Bennington character in movie "Three Men and a Little Lady"
• Mary Josephine Crawley character on TV's "Downton Abbey"
• Mary Anne Spier character in The Babysitters Club series
• Mary Mahoney character in Christopher Durang's "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You"
• Mary character in G. A. Henty's, For the Temple
• Mary Jane Watson character in the Spider,Man series
• Mary Margaret Blanchard character on TV's "Once Upon A Time"
• Mary Edwards aka Grandmary character in the American Girl Samantha series
• Mary Jean character in Lily Tomlin's sketches
• Mary Camden character on TV's "Seventh Heaven"
• Mary Swanson character in movie "Dumb and Dumber"
• Mary Vega character in movie "Crusade in Jeans"
• Mary Barrows villain in video game "Clock Tower"
• Sister Mary Benedict character in movie "The Bells of St. Mary's"
• Mary O'Connor character in G. A. Henty's "With Moore at Corunna and Under Wellington's Command"
• Mary Rivers character in Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre"
• Sister Mary Eunice McKee character from "American Horror Story: Asylum"
• Mary Chance character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
• Mary Waters character in the "St Clare" book series by Enid Blyton
• Mary Louise character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
• Blue Mary character in the video game "King of Fighters"
• Mary "Marjory" Kerr character in G. A. Henty's, In Freedom's Cause
• Mary Lou Barebone character in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
• Mary Prentice character in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
• Mary Griffin character in "The 100"
• Mary Vanderboom character in Rusty Lake: Roots
• Mary Cooper character, Sheldon's Mother on the prequel series "Young Sheldon"
• Mary Albright character on TV show "3rd Rock from the Sun"
• Mary Fiore character in 2001 film "The Wedding Planner"
• Mary main character in "The Forest of Hands and Teeth", by Carrie Ryan
• Mary character in "Mary Death" by Matthew Tarpley
• Mary Adler child maths prodigy in film 'Gifted' played by McKenna Grace
• Mary Shannon main character on the TV series " In Plain Sight"
• Mary (Hatch) Bailey character in film "It's a Wonderful Life"
• Mary Wang character in the Netflix series "Trollhunters"
• Mary Palmer character in "The Alienist"
• Mary Test character on animated series Johnny Test
• Bloody Mary cocktail inspired by Mary I of England
• "Mary Jane Holland " Lady Gaga song
• "Bloody Mary " Lady Gaga song
• The Jesus and Mary Chain band
• "Mary " song by The Death Riders
• "Mary had a Little Lamb " nursery rhyme
• "Mary Mary, quite contrary," nursery rhyme
• "Mary Mary," song by the Monkees
• "Mary's Song " song by Taylor Swift
• "Mary " song by Noah and the Whale
• "Miss Mary Mack " song sung in hand clapping rhythm
• "Suddenly Mary " song by the American alternative rock band The Posies
• "Mary " song by Scissor Sisters
• Mary Janes women's shoe
• Mary Jane slang for marijuana
• Mary Sue term for a perfect female character\