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Maria (given name)

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Maria
Gender: Female
Origin: Hebrew and Roman
Meaning: Hebrew meaning: "Beloved/love". Roman meaning is uncertain, probably related to Mars or the sea or means "musculine" (see Marius).
This article is about the given name. For other uses, see Maria (disambiguation).

Maria is a female given name in many diverse cultures, including African, Bulgarian, Catalan, English, German, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Spanish as well as in Pakistan and India.

It became popular with the spread of Christianity as a Latinized form of the Hebrew name of Jesus' mother Mary (Miriam in Hebrew). The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it may originally be an Egyptian name, probably derived from mry "beloved" or mr "love" [1] ("eminent lady" or "beloved lady"), although it was used in Europe even before the establishment of Christianity as a female form of the Roman name Marius.[2] Historically the name was also sometimes used as a male middle name. This was the case in many Central European countries where it signified patronage of the Virgin Mary.

Etymologically, the name could be derived from the Assyrian words Yamo Mariro (Yam, Mar = Maryam), which in Semitic languages, at least in Assyrian Aramaic, means sour ocean. Maryam is the Assyrian-Syriac, Hebrew, Arabic form of Maria.

As a first name, Maria ranked seventh out of 4,275 for females of all ages in the 1990 U.S. Census.[3] Because of its enduring popularity, the name is used extensively in society and media throughout the world.

Maria has in Latin been associated with the noun mare, meaning "[the] sea". So a punning reflection of Maria is Stella Maris, or "star of the sea".

Famous people named Maria

Religious

Royalty

Artists

Scientists

Actresses

Singers/Bands

Sports

Music

Models

Political activists

  • Maria Rosetti, Romanian journalist, essayist, philanthropist and socialite

Television hosts

As male middle name

As female middle name

Media

Songs

Novels

Television

Culture

Languages

Food

  • Maria-mole, dessert popular in Brazil that is similar to a marshmallow
  • Marie biscuit, a type of sweet biscuit similar to a Rich Tea biscuit, also known as a Maria biscuit
  • Golden Maria Cocktail- Mango Juice, Lime, Mint leaves and soda with white rum

Astronomy

Other

Trivia

  • In Mexico, it is a tradition to name the firstborn daughter Maria.

See also

References

  1. ^ Behind the Name article on Mary
  2. ^ Microsoft Word - TESIS M Morales Cara .doc
  3. ^ Think Baby Names
  4. ^ Daughter of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, Head of the Royal House of Portugal and pretender to the Portuguese throne.
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