Marybeth

English, combination of Mary and Beth

"drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + oath"

Marybeth Origin and Meaning

The name Marybeth is a girl's name meaning "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + oath".

Marybeth, something written like this as one word and sometimes as Mary Beth, is one of those compound versions of Mary popular in the midcentury US. Parents were trying to move away from plain old Mary, long the #1 girls' name, but not too far away. Marybeth is one of the most classic combinations, pairing Mary with the also-long-popular Elizabeth. About 400 baby girls were named Marybeth every year at its peak in the mid-1960s; today, it's fewer than 20.

The meaning of Mary 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).

Marybeth Rank in US Top 1000

# 972 in the US

Famous People Named Marybeth

• Mary Beth Hurt American actress
• Mary Beth Peil American actress and singer
• Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" Hughes American actress
• Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" McDonough American actress
• Mary Beth Evans American actress
• Mary Beth Marley American pair skater
• Marybeth Peters 11th US Register of Copyrights
• Mary Beth Edelson American feminist artist
• Mary Beth Buchanan former US Attorney
• Mary Beth Long former US Assistant Secretary of Defense
• Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" Rubens American actress
• Mary Beth Decker American model
• Mary Beth Leonard US Ambassador to Nigeria
• Mary Beth Patterson birth name of Beth Ditto, American singer of band Gossip
• Mary Beth Cahill American political campaign manager

Marybeth in Pop Culture

• Marybeth Dunston character in the "Hatchet" movies
• Mary Beth Lacey main character on TV's "Cagney and Lacey"