How popular is the baby name Maria in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Maria.

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Popularity of the baby name Maria


Posts that mention the name Maria

Which “Five Moons” name do you like best?

The Five Moons were five professional ballerinas — all born in the 1920s, all with Native American ancestry, and all with roots in the state of Oklahoma — who achieved international success in the mid-20th century. Their names were:

  • Rosella Hightower
  • Moscelyne (pronounced moss-eh-leen) Larkin
  • Maria Tallchief
  • Marjorie Tallchief
  • Yvonne Chouteau

(Maria and Marjorie were sisters.)

“Oklahoma’s five American Indian ballerinas would all premiere with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo: Hightower debuted in 1938, Maria Tallchief in 1942, Chouteau in 1943, Marjorie Tallchief in 1946 and Larkin in 1948.”

Which of their first names do you like the most?

Source: Thomas, Fran L. “The legacy of five Oklahoma American Indian ballerinas continues to shape lives.” Oklahoma Gazette 15 Jan. 2009.

Popular baby names in Iceland, 2016

Flag of Iceland
Flag of Iceland

According to Statistics Iceland, the most popular baby names in the country in 2016 were Emilía and Alexander.

Here are Iceland’s top 3 girl names and top 3 boy names of 2016:

Girl Names
1. Emilía
2. Emma
3. Elísabet

Boy Names
1. Alexander
2. Aron
3. Mikael

In 2014, the top two names were Margret and Aron.

“The most popular 200 names in Iceland are given names of around 80% of the population.”

In terms of middle names, the most common choice for girls is María and the top choice for boys is Þór (a form of Thor).

Source: Alexander and Emilia the most popular names for newborns

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iceland (public domain)

Popular baby names in Austria, 2016

Flag of Austria
Flag of Austria

According to data released by Statistics Austria, the most popular baby names in the country in 2016 were Anna (and variants) and Lukas (and variants).

Here are Austria’s top 10 girl name-groups and top 10 boy name-groups of 2016:

Girl Name-Groups
1. Anna (plus 20 variants, including Jannah) – 2,204 baby girls
2. Sophie (plus 12 variants, including Zofia) – 1,564
3. Maria (plus 36 variants, including Mery and Mirja) – 1,356
4. Emilia (plus 13 variants, including Emmelie) – 1,150
5. Elena (plus 39 variants, including Aljona and Ilona) – 981
6. Emma (zero variants) – 808
7. Sarah (plus 9 variants, including Saara) – 803
8. Lena (plus 7 variants, including Lenja) – 783
9. Laura (zero variants) – 645
10. Mia (plus 1 variant) – 639

Boy Name-Groups
1. Lukas (plus 11 variants, including Lucca) – 1,520 baby boys
2. David (plus 11 variants, including Dawood) – 989
3. Elias (plus 31 variants, including Elijah and Ilyaz) – 981
4. Jakob (plus 19 variants, including Tiago and Jacques) – 890
5. Maximilian (plus 8 variants) – 838
6. Alexander (plus 31 variants, including Alechandro and Eskandar) – 832
7. Paul (plus 6 variants, including Paulus) – 826
8. Jonas (plus 11 variants, including Yunus) – 823
9. Tobias (plus 2 variants) – 790
10. Felix (plus 2 variants) – 686

In the boys’ top 10, the Felix group replaced the Leon group. In the girls’ top 10, there were no replacements. Here are the 2015 name-group rankings, if you’d like to compare.

In terms of non-combined spellings, the top two names were Anna and David:

Girl Names
1. Anna, 998 baby girls
2. Emma, 808
3. Marie, 710
4. Lena, 678
5. Sophia, 652
6. Laura, 645
7. Mia, 639
8. Sophie, 625
9. Emilia, 592
10. Lea and Valentina (tie), 529 each

Boy Names
1. David, 938 baby boys
2. Maximilian, 829
3. Lukas, 805
4. Tobias, 789
5. Paul, 785
6. Elias, 774
7. Jakob, 756
8. Jonas, 731
9. Alexander, 695
10. Felix, 686

Sources: Anna and Lukas were the most popular baby names in 2016, Anna und Lukas waren auch 2016 wieder die beliebtesten Babynamen

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)

Where did the baby name Ilitia come from in 2011?

The character Kristel from the telenovela "Llena de amor" (2010-2011)
Kristel from “Llena de amor“

The popular Mexican telenovela Llena de amor (translation: Full of Love) originally aired from May of 2010 to February of 2011.

It was a remake of the Venezuelan telenovela Mi gorda bella, which had, in turn, been inspired by the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea — the show that gave rise to the U.S. series Ugly Betty and dozens of other international adaptations.

Llena de amor‘s main character — a young, overweight woman named Marianela (played by Ariadne Díaz) — seems to have given the baby name Marianela a slight boost in 2011.

But two other characters — both antagonists, interestingly — had a much more conspicuous influence on U.S. baby names.

The character Ilitia from the telenovela "Llena de amor" (2010-2011)
Ilitia from “Llena de amor“

The first, named Ilitia, was played by Altaír Jarabo. The rare name Ilitia (pronounced ee-LEE-tee-ah) appeared for the first (and, so far, only) time in the data in 2011:

  • 2013: unlisted
  • 2012: unlisted
  • 2011: 11 baby girls named Ilitia [debut]
  • 2010: unlisted
  • 2009: unlisted

The second, named Kristel, was played by María Elisa Camargo. The name Kristel nearly quadrupled in usage in 2011:

  • 2013: 27 baby girls named Kristel
  • 2012: 47 baby girls named Kristel
  • 2011: 122 baby girls named Kristel
  • 2010: 32 baby girls named Kristel
  • 2009: 23 baby girls named Kristel

More than half of Kristel’s 2011 usage occurred specifically in the states of California and Texas, both of which have sizeable Spanish-speaking populations.

Which do of these names — Marianela, Ilitia, or Kristel — do you like the most? Why?

Sources: Llena de amor – Wikipedia, Llena de amor: Cast of characters – Caray! Caray!, SSA

Images: Screenshots of Llena de amor