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Marybeth

Heart
English, combination of Mary and Beth
"drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + oath"

Marybeth Origin and Meaning

The name Marybeth is a girl's name meaning "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + oath".

Marybeth, something written like this as one word and sometimes as Mary Beth, is one of those compound versions of Mary popular in the midcentury US. Parents were trying to move away from plain old Mary, long the #1 girls' name, but not too far away. Marybeth is one of the most classic combinations, pairing Mary with the also-long-popular Elizabeth. About 400 baby girls were named Marybeth every year at its peak in the mid-1960s; today, it's fewer than 20.

The meaning of Mary is uncertain, but theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew roots mar "drop" and yam "sea"); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah "bitterness"); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr).

# 972 in the US

Marybeth Rank in US Top 1000

Famous People Named Marybeth

  • Mary Beth HurtAmerican actress
  • Mary Beth PeilAmerican actress and singer
  • Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" HughesAmerican actress
  • Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" McDonoughAmerican actress
  • Mary Beth EvansAmerican actress
  • Mary Beth MarleyAmerican pair skater
  • Marybeth Peters11th US Register of Copyrights
  • Mary Beth EdelsonAmerican feminist artist
  • Mary Beth Buchananformer US Attorney
  • Mary Beth Longformer US Assistant Secretary of Defense
  • Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" RubensAmerican actress
  • Mary Beth DeckerAmerican model
  • Mary Beth LeonardUS Ambassador to Nigeria
  • Mary Beth Pattersonbirth name of Beth Ditto, American singer of band Gossip
  • Mary Beth CahillAmerican political campaign manager

Marybeth in Pop Culture

  • Marybeth Dunstoncharacter in the "Hatchet" movies
  • Mary Beth Laceymain character on TV's "Cagney and Lacey"