MEANING & HISTORY
What does María mean?
María is the Spanish spelling of the name transmitted through Latin Maria and Greek Mariam from Hebrew Miriam. The accent marks Spanish stress and is retained here.
Mary the mother of Jesus is a major association, but the name’s deepest meaning remains debated. Egyptian love-related roots and several Hebrew explanations have been proposed; none should be presented as the sole uncontested translation.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
SpanishEtymology & source
Inherited from Latin Marīa, from Ancient Greek Μαρίᾱ (Maríā), from Hebrew מִרְיָם (miryām).
a female given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Mary
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 María
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
Fabian Ver
Filipino general (1920-1998)
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Vicente Madrigal
Philippine business tycoon and politician (1880-1972)
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
Wikidata
23
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Fabian Ver, Vicente Madrigal
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
María 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 María
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
- Maria♀Latin form of the biblical name Miriam
- Aria♂♀Song or melody in the Italian-derived account
- Caria♀Short form of Macaria; blessed-name tradition
- Daria♀Feminine form of Darius
- Mara♀Bitter in Hebrew, or a Maria/Tamara short form
- Mari♂♀Mary-family form; also a separate Japanese name
- Marian♀A form of Marion, or Mary joined with Ann
- Marie♀French form of Mary, from Miriam
What rhymes with María?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Recorded combinations with María
10 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
- José María♂Joseph joined with Mary
- María Aurora♀Source record
- María Isabel♀Source record
- María Leonor♀Source record
- María Margarita♀Source record
- María Paz♀Source record
- María Rosario♀Source record
- María Teresa♀Source record
Explore María further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q18088640 — María (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata given-name item Q109785195 — María (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Fabian Ver (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q109785195 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Vicente Madrigal (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q18088640 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — María (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: María (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.
- Behind the Name — Maria (opens in a new tab)
Latin/Greek transmission from Miriam and qualified deeper-root discussion.
- Behind the Name — Mary (opens in a new tab)
Miriam family and competing older-root accounts, not a settled universal literal meaning.