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

Gaiety Girl names: Gertie, Gaby, Ellaline

English actress Lily Elsie (1886-1962)
Lily Elsie

Before there were Follies girls, there were Gaiety Girls.

The Gaiety Girls were showgirls who appeared in Edwardian musical comedies at London’s Gaiety Theatre during the 1890s.

English actress Gabrielle Ray (1883-1973)
Gabrielle Ray

There’s no definitive list of all the Gaiety Girls, but here are the stage names (and birth names) of several dozen of them:

Stage NameBirth Name
Alice DelysiaAlice Lapize
Billie CarletonFlorence Stewart
Blanche MasseyBlanch Massey
Camille CliffordCamilla Clifford
Cicely CourtneidgeEsmerelda Cicely Courtneidge
Connie GilchristConstance Gilchrist
Constance CollierLaura Constance Hardie
Denise OrmeJessie Smither
Dorothy MintoDorothy Scott
Eleanor “Nellie” SourayEllen Mary Souray
Ellaline TerrissMary Ellaline Terriss
Evelyn LayeElsie Evelyn Lay
Florence SmithsonFlorence Smithson
Gaby DeslysMarie-Elise-Gabrielle Caire
Gabrielle RayGabrielle Cook
Gertie MillarGertrude Millar
Gina PalermeMarie Louise Irène de Maulmont
Gladys CooperGladys Cooper
Irene Desmond(unknown)
Irene Richards(unknown)
Jessie Matthews(unknown)
José CollinsCharlotte Josephine Collins
Kitty GordonConstance Blades
Lily ElsieElsie Hodder
Mabel LoveMabel Watson
Mabel RussellMabel Russell
Mamie Watson(unknown)
Marie StudholmeCaroline Maria Lupton
May EtheridgeMay Etheridge
May Gates(unknown)
Moya NugentMoya Nugent
Olive MayOlive Mary Meatyard
Phyllis DarePhyllis Constance Haddie Dones (sister of Zena)
Rosie BooteRose Boote
Sylvia GreySylvia Grey
Sylvia StoreySylvia Storey
Zena DareFlorence Hariette Zena Dones (sister of Phyllis)

Which of the above names do you like best?

Sources: Gaiety Girls – Wikipedia, Gaiety Girls exhibition – National Portrait Gallery

Popular baby names in the Balearic Islands (Spain), 2013

Flag of the Balearic Islands
Flag of the Balearic Islands

According to data from the Balearic Institute of Statistics (Ibestat), the most popular baby names in the Balearic Islands (an archipelago that belongs to Spain) in 2013 were Maria and Marc.

Here are the Balearic Islands’ top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2013:

Girl namesBoy names
1. Maria, 113 baby girls (2.2%)
2. Julia, 102 (1.99%)
3. Carla, 100 (1.95%)
4. Paula
5. Lucia
6. Sofia
7. Aina
8. Emma
9. Laia
10. Marta		1. Marc, 157 baby boys (2.91%)
2. Pau, 106 (1.97%)
3. Hugo, 102 (1.89%)
4. Daniel
5. Joan
6. Alejandro
7. Adam
8. Mohamed
9. Lucas
10. Miquel

Maria and Marc were also the #1 names on the islands of Mallorca (which hosts about 80% of the population) and Menorca (9%). On Ibiza (11%), the winners were Martina and Hugo. On Formentera (1%), the winners were Lucia and Aitor — a name invented by Basque writer Agosti Xaho in the mid-19th century.

Here are Spain’s top baby names overall for 2013, if you’d like to compare.

Sources: Most chosen baby names in Mallorca, Nombres mas frecuentes – Ibestat

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Balearic Islands (public domain)

Popular and unique baby names in Portugal, 2014

Flag of Portugal
Flag of Portugal

According to data from the Instituto dos Registos e Notariado (IRN), the most popular baby names in Portugal in 2014 were Maria and João.

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

Girl namesBoy names
1. Maria, 4,809 baby girls
2. Matilde, 2,062
3. Leonor, 1,859
4. Beatriz, 1,378
5. Mariana, 1,330
6. Carolina, 1,295
7. Ana, 1120
8. Inês, 1062 (Agnes)
9. Sofia, 980
10. Margarida, 930		1. João, 1,809 baby boys
2. Rodrigo, 1,783
3. Francisco, 1,718
4. Martim, 1,663
5. Santiago, 1,428
6. Tomás, 1,400
7. Afonso, 1,378
8. Duarte, 1,244 (Edward)
9. Miguel, 1,207
10. Guilherme, 1,206

Those #1 names remind me of all the old U.S. popularity lists (e.g., 1910s) that were dominated by Mary and John.

But that’s not all — Portugal released all of its baby name data (yay!) via the newspaper Público (you can download the full list here), so let’s check out a few of the unique baby names used only once last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Deegbi, Dricla, Elizangila, Euclidiana, Gelciline, Hotchali, Jacymiilly, Jeckliny, Ketley, Luwejíyane, MaMa, Naziriti, Quedna, Quintazinha, Swazilene, Taldia, Túlipa, Uhenya, Vissolela, WysmaraAriful, Award, Djezzy, Ducu, Eviquene, Iunussa, Lheônidas, Lyrics, Melquizedeque, Odissei, Otchali, Ovidiu, Stalone, Uxío, Visual, Wivendelson, Womna, Yax, Yowami, Zniber

Finally, here are Portugal’s top 10 compound names for each gender:

Girl namesBoy names
1. Maria Inês, 603 baby girls
2. Maria Leonor, 496
3. Maria Francisca, 315
4. Maria Clara, 257
5. Maria Carolina, 164
6. Ana Carolina 161
7. Maria João 140
8. Maria Beatriz 140
9. Lara Sofia, 130
10. Maria Luísa, 125		1. João Pedro, 343 baby boys
2. Rodrigo Miguel, 204
3. Pedro Miguel, 174
4. Afonso Miguel, 140
5. João Miguel, 138
6. Diogo Miguel, 136
7. João Maria, 127
8. Duarte Miguel, 124
9. Tiago Miguel, 123
10. José Pedro, 114

I’m guessing that compound names are counted separately from single names, but I’m not entirely sure.

Source: Em 2014 as meninas continuaram a responder por Maria, os rapazes por João (found by Skizzo — thank you!)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Portugal (public domain)

The 24 children of Johann VI

John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg
Johann VI

Dutch nobleman Johann VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg (1536-1606) — one of the younger siblings of William of Orange — had a total of 24 children by three different wives. Here are their names, grouped by mother…

With first wife Elisabeth, 13 children:

  • Wilhelm Ludwig (b. 1560)
  • Johann (b. 1561)
  • Georg (b. 1562)
  • Elisabeth (b. 1564)
  • Juliana (b. 1565)
  • Filips (b. 1566)
  • Marie (b. 1568)
  • Anna Sibylla (b. 1569)
  • Mathilde (b. 1570)
  • Albert (b. 1572)
  • Ernst Casimir (b. 1573)
  • Lodewijk Gunther (b. 1575)
  • stillborn (b. 1579)

With second wife Kunigunde, 4 children:

  • stillborn (b. 1581)
  • Maria Amalia (b. 1582)
  • Kunigunde (b. 1583)
  • stillborn (b. 1585)

With third wife Johannetta, 7 children:

  • Georg Ludwig (b. 1588)
  • Johann Ludwig (b. 1590)
  • Johannetta Elisabeth (b. 1593)
  • Anna (b. 1594)
  • Magdalena (b. 1595)
  • Anna Amalia (b. 1599)
  • Juliana (b. 1602)

Which of the names above do you like the most?

Sources: Johann VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Johann VI. von Nassau-Dillenburg (1535-1606)