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

Popular baby names in Austria, 2015

Flag of Austria
Flag of Austria

According to data released in December of 2016 by Statistics Austria, the most popular baby names in the country in 2015 were Anna (and variants) and Lukas (and variants).

Here are Austria’s top 10 girl name-groups and top 10 boy name-groups of 2015:

Girl Names

  1. Anna (21 variants, including Ann, Hannah, Yahna)
  2. Sophie (12 variants, including Sophia)
  3. Maria (36 variants, including Merry, Moira, Miriam)
  4. Emilia (14 variants)
  5. Elena (40 variants, including Elaine, Helen, Ilijana)
  6. Emma (1 variant)
  7. Lena (8 variants)
  8. Sarah (9 variants)
  9. Mia (2 variants)
  10. Laura (1 variant)

Boy Names

  1. Lukas (11 variants, including Luc)
  2. David (12 variants)
  3. Jakob (20 variants, including Giacomo, Jaime, Tiago)
  4. Elias (31 variants, including Ilian)
  5. Maximilian (9 variants)
  6. Alexander (32 variants, including Alejandro, Alistair, Iskender)
  7. Jonas (12 variants)
  8. Paul (7 variants, including Pablo)
  9. Tobias (3 variants)
  10. Leon (7 variants, including Levon)

The #1 name-groups were the same in 2014. There are no new entries on either top 10 list.

Source: Anna und Lukas sind die beliebtesten Babynamen 2015 (found via Popularity of Names in Austria, 2015)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)

Popular baby names in Bulgaria, 2016

Flag of Bulgaria
Flag of Bulgaria

According to preliminary data released yesterday by Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute, the most popular baby names in the country in 2016 were Viktoria and Aleksandar.

Here are Bulgaria’s projected top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl names

  1. Viktoria
  2. Maria
  3. Nikol
  4. Raya
  5. Sofia
  6. Aleksandra
  7. Gabriela
  8. Daria
  9. Yoana
  10. Simona

Boy names

  1. Aleksandar
  2. Georgi
  3. Martin
  4. Dimitar
  5. Ivan
  6. Nikola
  7. Viktor
  8. Daniel
  9. Kaloyan
  10. Nikolay

On the boys’ list, Aleksandar replaced Georgi as the #1 name.

The name Kaloyan can be traced back to Tsar Ivan II, who ruled Bulgaria from 1197 to 1207. His nickname, “Kaloyan,” was based on the Greek phrase kalos Ioannes, meaning “handsome John.” In fact, an increasing number of baby boys are being named after the “khans and the kings of the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdom, for example Asparuh, Tervel, Simeon, Samuil, Kaloyan.”

Trendy girl name Krisia isn’t in the top 10, but it was given to 169 baby girls in 2016 (and 222 in 2015) thanks to the influence of Bulgarian child singer Krisia Todorova.

And what are the most common first names in Bulgaria overall?

Female names overall

  1. Maria
  2. Ivanka
  3. Elena
  4. Yordanka
  5. Penka
  6. Daniela
  7. Rositsa
  8. Desislava
  9. Petya
  10. Gergana

Male names overall

  1. Georgi
  2. Ivan
  3. Dimitar
  4. Nikolay
  5. Petar
  6. Hristo
  7. Aleksandar
  8. Stefan
  9. Yordan
  10. Vasil

Interesting entries in the overall top 20 include the female name Rumyana and the male names Stoyan, Atanas (from Athanasius), and Plamen.

Sources: Names in Bulgaria in 2016 (preliminary data) – NSI (PDF), Kaloyan – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Bulgaria (public domain)

Arrr! Baby names for “Talk Like a Pirate Day”

Avast! Did you know that today, September 19th, is Talk Like a Pirate Day?

“Arrr” itself doesn’t make a great name — even for pirates — but here’s the next best thing: over 130 names that feature the “arrr” sound.

Girl Names with “Arrr”

  • Araminta
  • Arcadia
  • Arden
  • Aretha
  • Aria
  • Ariana, Arianna
  • Arlene
  • Arlette
  • Arlynne
  • Artemis
  • Barbara
  • Barbie
  • Carla
  • Carlene
  • Carley
  • Carmel
  • Carmella
  • Carmen
  • Charlene
  • Charlotte
  • Charmaine
  • Darcy
  • Daria
  • Darla
  • Darlene
  • Gardenia
  • Harbor
  • Harlow
  • Harmony
  • Hildegarde
  • Karla
  • Katarina
  • Larisa, Larissa
  • Mara
  • Marcella
  • Marcia
  • Margaret
  • Margot, Margaux
  • Maria
  • Mariah
  • Mariana
  • Marie
  • Marina
  • Mariska
  • Marissa
  • Marjorie
  • Marla
  • Marlena
  • Marlene
  • Marley
  • Marnie
  • Marta
  • Martha
  • Marva
  • Martina
  • Narcissa
  • Parthenia (…Parthenope?)
  • Pilar
  • Rosario
  • Scarlett
  • Skylar
  • Starla

Boy Names with “Arrr”

  • Arcadio
  • Archer
  • Archibald
  • Archie
  • Ari
  • Arlo
  • Arnold
  • Arsenio
  • Arthur
  • Balthazar
  • Barnaby
  • Barton
  • Bernard (…Bernarr?)
  • Carl
  • Carlisle
  • Carlton
  • Carson
  • Carter
  • Carver
  • Charles
  • Clark
  • Dario
  • Darius
  • Darwin
  • Edgar
  • Edward
  • Finbar
  • Garfield
  • Gerard
  • Gunnar
  • Hardy
  • Harley
  • Harper
  • Harvey
  • Howard
  • Karl
  • Lars
  • Larson
  • Lazarus
  • Leonard
  • Marcel
  • Marcellus
  • Mario
  • Marius
  • Marc, Mark
  • Marcus, Markus
  • Marlow
  • Marshall
  • Martin, Marty
  • Marvin
  • Nazario
  • Oscar
  • Parker
  • Richard
  • Stewart, Stuart
  • Ward
  • Warner
  • Warren
  • Warrick
  • Willard
  • Yardley

Which of the Arrr-names above do you like best? Did I miss any good ones?

Update, 9/20: A few additions…

Source: How To… – International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Image: Adapted from Flag of Edward England by WarX under CC BY-SA 3.0.

[Latest update: July 2023]

Popular baby names in Spain, 2015

Flag of Spain
Flag of Spain

According to data from Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE), the most popular baby names in Spain in 2015 were Lucia and Hugo.

Here are Spain’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Lucia, 5,229 baby girls
2. Maria, 4,516
3. Martina, 4,447
4. Paula, 3,854
5. Sofia, 3,525
6. Daniela, 3,392
7. Alba, 3,082
8. Julia, 3,006
9. Carla, 2,951
10. Sara, 2,936		1. Hugo, 5,162 baby boys
2. Daniel, 4,578
3. Pablo, 4,202
4. Martin, 4,078
5. Alejandro, 3,994
6. Adrian, 3,341
7. Alvaro, 3,244
8. David, 2,993
9. Lucas, 2,904
10. Mario, 2,825

Lucia has held the #1 spot since 2003, and Hugo since 2012.

In the girls’ top 10, Alba rose 3 spots, and Julia replaced Valeria.

In the boys’ top 10, Martin rose 4 spots, and Lucas replaced Diego.

In the top 100, Miguel and Jose rank 23rd and 38th, respectively, while the related compound names Miguel Angel and Jose Antonio rank 86th and 94th, respectively.

Other interesting names in the top 100 include…

  • Laia, 34th for girls. It’s a short form of Eulalia in Catalan. Laia ranks 3rd for girls in Catalonia specifically.
  • Leire and Leyre, 39th and 50th for girls. They refer to the Monastery of San Salvador of Leyre in Navarre. Leyre ranks 10th in Navarre specifically.
  • Nerea, 46th for girls. It’s based on the Basque word nere, meaning “my” or “mine” — kind of like a Basque version of Mia.
  • Triana, 38th for girls. Perhaps inspired by the Triana neighborhood of Seville…?
  • Iria, 69th for girls. It might be a form of Irene, based on the ancient Greek word for “peace.” The Marian apparitions of Fátima occurred at the Cova da Iria.
  • Biel, 71st for boys. It’s a short form of Gabriel in Catalan. Biel ranks 5th for boys in Catalonia specifically.
  • Ibai, 99th for boys. It’s the Basque word for “river.” It ranks 4th in both Navarre and the Basque Country.

Here are Spain’s 2014 rankings.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Spain (public domain)