MEANING & HISTORY
What does Mara mean?
Mara has several documented personal-name routes. Biblical Hebrew Mara means bitter and appears in Naomi’s self-description in Ruth.
The English dictionary also recognizes short forms of Maria or Tamara, while the editorial account separately documents European Maria-family uses. Those routes do not inherit the Hebrew bitter meaning automatically. This makes the exact base particularly important when explaining an individual Mara.
The name should not be reduced to a negative personality label, nor should an attractive alternative root erase the documented biblical sense.
Pronunciation & syllables
A dictionary pronunciation or syllable division has not been verified for this exact spelling. Use the synthetic reading as a starting point and confirm the intended pronunciation with the family.
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Hebrew מָרָא (mara, “bitterness”), derived from Hebrew מַר (mar, “bitter”). The modern given name may also be shortened from Maria or Tamara.
A female given name from Hebrew.
EnglishEtymology & source
Borrowed from Latin Maria, borrowed from Koine Greek Μᾰρῐ́ᾱ (Mărĭ́ā), borrowed from Aramaic מרים, borrowed from Biblical Hebrew מִרְיָם (miryɔm). Doublet of Mary, Marie, and Miriam.
A female given name from Hebrew.
EnglishEtymology & source
Of Slavic origin, mainly from Russian Тама́ра (Tamára), name of a 12th-century saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, cognate with English biblical Tamar, from Hebrew תמר (tāmār, “date palm”).
A female given name from Hebrew, regularly used in English since the mid-twentieth century.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Mara
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Mara La Torre
Philippine fashion model
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
1
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
2
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Mara Morelli, Mara La Torre
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Mara in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Mara
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Cara♀Beloved in Italian or friend in Irish
- Dara♂♀Irish, Persian and Slavic name traditions
- Kara♂♀Cara-family form: beloved or friend
- Lara♀Russian familiar form of Larissa
- Maja♀Maria familiar form and independently documented May-name routes
- Mar♂Sea in a Spanish devotional name; a separate Danish form exists
- Marc♂French, Catalan, or Welsh form of Marcus
- Marga♀Margaret-family short form; pearl in the older root
What rhymes with Mara?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Mara further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q1528582 — Mara (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Mara Morelli (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1528582 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Mara La Torre (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1528582 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Mara (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Mara (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Mara (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — mara-1 (opens in a new tab)
Consulted editorial entry, not user submissions: Biblical bitter and Naomi context.
- Behind the Name — mara-2 (opens in a new tab)
Consulted editorial entry, not user submissions: Independent Maria-family European formation.