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 Armenia, 2015 (so far)

Flag of Armenia
Flag of Armenia

According to a spokesperson for the Armenian National Statistical Service, the most popular baby names in Armenia during the first five months of 2015 were Nare and Davit.

Here are Armenia’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015 so far:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Nare
2. Mari
3. Maria
4. Anahit
5. Mane
6. Milena
7. Mariam
8. Angelina
9. Ani
10. Elen		1. Davit
2. Narek
3. Tigran
4. Hayk
5. Aleks
6. Gor
7. Arman
8. Alen
9. Erik
10. Artur

Nare and Davit were also the top names in 2012, but Mane and Narek were the winners in 2010.

Source: Which are most popular names given to Armenia newborns?

Image: Adapted from Flag of Armenia (public domain)

Popular baby names in Spain, 2014

Flag of Spain
Flag of Spain

According to data from Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, the most popular baby names in Spain in 2014 were Lucia and Hugo.

Here are Spain’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2014:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Lucia, 5,161 baby girls
2. Maria, 4,951
3. Martina, 4,380
4. Paula, 4,210
5. Daniela, 3,792
6. Sofia, 3,568
7. Valeria, 3,246
8. Carla, 3,138
9. Sara, 3,116
10. Alba, 3,111		1. Hugo, 5,121 baby boys
2. Daniel, 4,859
3. Pablo, 4,494
4. Alejandro, 4,116
5. Alvaro, 3,670
6. Adrian, 3,463
7. David, 3,376
8. Martin, 3,181
9. Mario, 3,067
10. Diego, 3,000

Alba replaced Julia in the girls’ top 10.

Martin, which jumped from 20th place to 8th place, replaced Javier in the boys’ top 10.

Here are the 2013 baby names rankings for Spain, if you’d like to compare.

And, just for fun, let’s also check out the nearly 5 million foreign nationals living in Spain. The most common first names among expats (grouped by nation of origin) are:

Female Expat NamesMale Expat Names
1. Fatima (Morocco), 18,493 females
2. Maria (Romania), 12,547
3. Elena (Romania), 10,629
4. Khadija (Morocco), 8,339
5. Mariana (Romania), 7,535
6. Mihaela (Romania), 6,050
7. Ana Maria (Romania), 5,265
8. Aicha (Morocco), 5,208
9. Naima (Morocco), 4,963
10. Daniela (Romania), 4,823		1. Mohamed (Moroccan), 40,658 males*
2. Mohammed (Moroccan), 19,401
3. Ahmed (Moroccan), 15,003
4. Said (Moroccan), 9,513
5. Gheorghe (Romanian), 9,399
6. Vasile (Romanian), 9,045
7. Ioan (Romanian), 9,035
8. Rachid (Moroccan), 8,956
9. Youssef (Moroccan), 8,583
10. Mustapha (Moroccan), 7,468

*The total for Mohamed is even higher when you factor in the 2,436 Mohameds that came from Algeria.

Sources: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, And the most common expat name in Spain is…

Image: Adapted from Flag of Spain (public domain)

Popular baby names in Malta, 2014

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

According to data from Malta’s National Statistics Office, the most popular name-groups in Malta in 2014 were Elena/Elenia/Helena/Ella and Luke/Luca/Lucas.

Here are Malta’s top 10 girl and boy name-groups of 2014:

Girl Names

  1. Elena/Elenia/Helena/Ella, 97 baby girls
  2. Julia/Yulia/Julianne, 72
  3. Emma/Emmanuela/Ema, 70
  4. Eliza/Elisa/Elizabeth/Elise, 69
  5. Catherine/Katrina/Kate/Katya, 46
  6. Maya/Mia/Myah, 44
  7. Lea/Leah/Leia, 42
  8. Emilia/Emily/Emelie, 41
  9. Amy/Aimee, 39
  10. Maria/Marija/Mariah/Marie, 37 [tie]
    • Anna/Hannah/Ann, 37 [tie]

Boy Names

  1. Luke/Luca/Lucas, 98 baby boys
  2. Matthew/Matthias/Matteo, 97
  3. Jacob/Jake, 77
  4. Zachary/Zak/Zack, 59
  5. Michael/Miguel/Mikhail, 53
  6. Liam/William, 51 [tie]
    • John/Jean/Jonathan/Juan/Gan, 51 [tie]
  7. Benjamin/Ben, 51
  8. Kaiden/Kayden/Kai ,46 [tie]
    • Alexander/Alessandro/Alec, 46 [tie]
  9. Andrew/Andreas/Andre/Andy, 45
  10. Joseph/Beppe/Giuseppe/Josef, 40

Down in 15th place on the boys’ side is “Yannick/Yan” — both are versions of John, and yet they’re not part of the John group, which is tied for 6th.

Speaking of strange things…

Quote about Malta being unable to use Maltese fonts for birth registrations (Times of Malta)

(My blog also cannot handle Maltese fonts, or else I’d be able to write out that paragraph for you.)

I’ve seen governments (e.g., NWT, California) make excuses about not being able to render minority/ethnic names properly on birth certificates, but I’ve never heard of a country that couldn’t render names from its own national language.

Oh, Malta.

Here are the 2013, 2012, 2009, 2007, and 2006 rankings.

Sources: Naming Babies – National Statistics Office – Malta, Luke and Elena remain most popular names given to newborns, ‘Dotty’ system bars patriot baby names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

Princess baby names: Beatrix, Irene, Margriet, Maria

Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands had a total of 4 children, all girls:

  1. Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard (b. January, 1938)
  2. Irene Emma Elisabeth (b. August, 1939)
  3. Margriet Francisca (b. January, 1943)
  4. Maria Christina “Marijke” (b. February, 1947)

The middle daughters were both named with current events in mind.

Irene, born just before World War II began, was named after the Greek goddess of peace. According to Prince Bernhard, “we chose Irene, which means peace, because of the serious international situation.” Here’s how one newspaper put it:

So now against all the war machines and bombers and the marching millions, there stands a little baby, named Irene, to personify the tiny hope that lies within the hearts of the millions, the hope of peace.

Margriet, born during WWII, “was named after the marguerite flower, the national symbol of resistance [to Nazi Germany] in the Netherlands.” (The family was taking refuge in Canada during the war, and her hospital room “was decreed to be Dutch territory for the occasion so that the princess would be a Dutch citizen.”)

Which of these two names do you like more, Irene or Margriet?

Sources:

  • “Baby Princess Carried to Birth Registration.” Montreal Gazette 8 Aug. 1939: 7.
  • Goddard, Lance. Canada and the Liberation of the Netherlands, May 1945. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2005.
  • “So They Named Her Irene.” Meriden Daily Journal 18 Aug. 1939: 6.