Mary
Top 1000
About Mary
Mary is the English form of Maria, which ultimately was derived from the Hebrew name Maryam/Mariam. The original meaning of Maryam 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).
Mary, the quintessential New Testament name, was #1 for girls until the mid-twentieth century. Though still popular, Mary is used now mostly for religious or family reasons. If it's style you're after, Mary's many diminutives and derivatives such as Maire, Mamie, May, Mitzi, Molly, Maura, Marietta, and even Maria may seem more fashionable.
Mary was the most popular and enduring female Christian name in the English-speaking world (as were Maria and Marie in Spanish and French) until the 1940s. That was when in the US Mary was finally dethroned by such trendy upstarts as Linda and Karen.
There are six Marys in the Bible, including the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and Mary the mother of Mark, and there have been British royal Marys beginning in the sixteenth century. In earlier times Mary was considered too sacred to be used; it finally gained usage in England in the twelfth century, and by the sixteenth had blanketed the female population, to the point where dozens of pet forms had to be contrived to distinguish one Mary in the family from the others.
The poet Byron deemed Mary a "magic" name, and Bing Crosby proclaimed it "a grand old name." Mary has always been a good-girl name, as reflected by such mid-century icons of propriety and wholesomeness as Mary Poppins and Mary Tyler Moore. The lovely Lady Mary Crawley of Downton Abbey has restored some freshness to the name.
Among the celebs who dropped their birth name of Mary are Meryl Streep, Debbie Reynolds, and Lily Tomlin.
For more detail on the origins and possible meanings of the name Mary, see this excellent post on the subject.
Pronounced MAIR-ee.
As of October 2026, Mary ranked #125 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1 in 1890, Nameberry popularity #155.
Editor's take: The name Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "drop of the sea; bitter; beloved; love".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #120 | 2,636 | 1,475.6 |
| 2015 | #123 | 2,642 | 1,480 |
| 2016 | #126 | 2,526 | 1,425.5 |
| 2017 | #126 | 2,424 | 1,404 |
| 2018 | #126 | 2,369 | 1,392.6 |
| 2019 | #126 | 2,239 | 1,334 |
| 2020 | #123 | 2,229 | 1,378.9 |
| 2021 | #132 | 2,100 | 1,279.8 |
| 2022 | #134 | 2,116 | 1,290.1 |
| 2023 | #133 | 2,081 | 1,296.9 |
| 2024 | #132 | 2,196 | 1,355.4 |
| 2025 | #125 | 2,230 | 1,387.4 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Mary.
- Anne
- Catherine
- Laura
- Helen
- Virginia
- Nancy
- Marie
- Martha
- Susannah
- Annie
- Katherine
- Susan
- Joanna
- Sarah
- Richard
- Catharine
- Rachel
- Robert
- John
- Paul
Mary on lists
Famous Marys
- Blessed Virgin Mary
mother of Jesus Christ
- Mary Magdalene
follower of Jesus Christ
- Mary of Bethany
follower of Jesus Christ
- Mary I
Queen of England, aka Bloody Mary
- Mary II
Queen of England and Scotland, wife of William III
- Mary Stuart
Queen of Scots
- Mary
Queen of Hungary
- Mary of Guelders
Queen consort of James II of Scotland
- Mary of Guise
Queen consort of James V of Scotland; mother of Mary, Queen of Scots
- Mary of Modena (born Maria Beatrice Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este)
Queen consort of James II and VII of England
- Mary of Teck (born Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes)
Queen consort of George V of the U.K.
- Mary Tudor
Queen consort of Louis XII of France
- Mary of Austria
Queen consort of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia; Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
- Mary Elizabeth Donaldson
Crown Princess of Denmark
- Mary Todd Lincoln
U.S. First Lady as wife of President Abraham Lincoln
- Mary Pickford (born Gladys Louise Smith)
Canadian,American actress
- Mary Sean Young
American actress
- Mary Tyler Moore
American actress
- Mary Noel Streatfeild
English novelist
- Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep
American actress
- Mary Willa 'Mamie' Gummer
American actress, daughter of actress Meryl Streep
- Mary Anna McCartney
daughter of musician Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman McCartney
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead
American actress
- Mary Jane Blige
American R&B singer
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
English novelist
- Mary Stuart Masterson
American actress
- Mary
Louise Parker, American actress
- Mary Frances Crosby
American actress
- Mary Hart (born Mary Johanna Harum)
American TV news personality
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
American actress
- Mary
Kate Olsen, American actress and fashion designer; twin of Ashley Olsen
- Mary Katherine Campbell
Miss America 1922 and 1923
- Mary Elise Hayden
American actress
- Mary Pope Osborne
American children's author
- Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin
American actress and comedienne
- Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds
American actress
- Mary Margaret "Marg" Helgenberger
American actress
- Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers)
American singer, wife of guitarist Les Paul
- Mary Ellen Mark
American photographer
- Mary Byrne
Irish singer,songwriter
- Mary Boleyn
sister of English Queen consort Anne Boleyn
- Mary Jo Eustace
Canadian actress, singer and chef
- Mary Jo Salter
American poet
- Mary
Charles Jones, American child actress
- Mary Wollstonecraft
English author and feminist
- Mary Chapin Carpenter
American country music singer
- Mary Eileen McDonnell
American actress
- Mary Stuart
Princess of England, Scotland and Ireland, daughter of James VI and I
- Mary Henrietta of England
Princess Royal, Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau; daughter of Charles I
- Mary
Princess of Great Britain, daughter of George II
- Mary
Princess of the U.K.; Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, daughter of George III
- (Victoria Alexandra Alice) Mary
Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, daughter of George V of the U.K.
- Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge
Duchess of Teck; mother of Mary of Teck
- Mary Allin Travers
American singer of group Peter, Paul & Mary
- Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson)
American Disney artist
- Mary Black
Irish singer
- Mary Read
English pirate
- Mary Jackson
NASA's first African,american female engineer
- Mary O'Hara Alsop
American novelist and screenwriter
- Mary Gilmore
Australian poet and journalist
- Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs aka Cokie Roberts
American TV journalist and author
- Mary Kay Place
American actress
- Mary Kay Bergman
American voice actress
- Mary Tamm
English actress
- Mary Jo Kopechne
American political campaign specialist
- Mary Oliver
American poet
- Mary Hunter Austin
American nature writer
- Mary (Theresa Eleanor) Higgins Clark
American novelist
- Mary Westmacott
alias of novelist Agatha Christie
- Mary Anning
English paleontologist
- Mary Amelia Ingalls
sister of novelist Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Mary Kubica
American novelist
- Mary Abigail "Abby" Wambach
American soccer player
- Mary
Cooke Branch Munford, American activist and suffragette
- Mary Clementine Ronstadt (b. 1990)
daughter of singer Linda Ronstadt
- Mary Bush (b. 2000)
daughter of TV personality Billy Bush
- Mary James Marsden (b. 2005)
daughter of actor James Marsden
- Mary James Rust (b. 2017)
daughter of Paul Rust and Lesley Arfin
- Mary Iglesias (b. 2020)
daughter of Anna Kournikova and Enrique Iglesias
- Mary Shelley
English novelist, author of Frankenstein
- Mary Bell (b.1957)
English child murderer aged 10,11 in 1968
Mary in pop culture
- Mary Lennox
main character in F.H. Burnett's "The Secret Garden"
- Mary Grayson
character in DC Universe
- Mary Wardwell
character in "Sabrina" universe
- "Mary Poppins
" series by P.L. Travers, movie, and its main character
- Mary Bennet
character in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"
- Mary Malone
character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series
- Mary Morstan Watson
character in the Sherlock Holmes series
- Mary Jensen
main character in film "There's Something About Mary"
- Mary Russell Holmes
character in Laurie R. King's Russell and Holmes series
- Mary Iris "Mim" Malone
character in "Mosquitoland"
- Mary Sandra Winchester
character on TV's "Supernatural"
- Mary Lisbon
character in "The Virgin Suicides"
- Mary Shepherd
Sunderland, character in video game Silent Hill 2
- Mary Terrafino
character in Michael Grant's Gone series
- Mary Katherine (M.K.)
main character in movie "Epic"
- Mary Bennington
character in movie "Three Men and a Little Lady"
- Mary Josephine Crawley
character on TV's "Downton Abbey"
- Mary Anne Spier
character in The Babysitters Club series
- Mary Mahoney
character in Christopher Durang's "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You"
- Mary
character in G. A. Henty's, For the Temple
- Mary Jane Watson
character in the Spider,Man series
- Mary Margaret Blanchard
character on TV's "Once Upon A Time"
- Mary Edwards aka Grandmary
character in the American Girl Samantha series
- Mary Jean
character in Lily Tomlin's sketches
- Mary Camden
character on TV's "Seventh Heaven"
- Mary Swanson
character in movie "Dumb and Dumber"
- Mary Vega
character in movie "Crusade in Jeans"
- Mary Barrows
villain in video game "Clock Tower"
- Sister Mary Benedict
character in movie "The Bells of St. Mary's"
- Mary O'Connor
character in G. A. Henty's "With Moore at Corunna and Under Wellington's Command"
- Mary Rivers
character in Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre"
- Sister Mary Eunice McKee
character from "American Horror Story: Asylum"
- Mary Chance
character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
- Mary Waters
character in the "St Clare" book series by Enid Blyton
- Mary Louise
character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
- Blue Mary
character in the video game "King of Fighters"
- Mary "Marjory" Kerr
character in G. A. Henty's, In Freedom's Cause
- Mary Lou Barebone
character in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
- Mary Prentice
character in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
- Mary Griffin
character in "The 100"
- Mary Vanderboom
character in Rusty Lake: Roots
- Mary Cooper
character, Sheldon's Mother on the prequel series "Young Sheldon"
- Mary Albright
character on TV show "3rd Rock from the Sun"
- Mary Fiore
character in 2001 film "The Wedding Planner"
- Mary
main character in "The Forest of Hands and Teeth", by Carrie Ryan
- Mary
character in "Mary Death" by Matthew Tarpley
- Mary Adler
child maths prodigy in film 'Gifted' played by McKenna Grace
- Mary Shannon
main character on the TV series " In Plain Sight"
- Mary (Hatch) Bailey
character in film "It's a Wonderful Life"
- Mary Wang
character in the Netflix series "Trollhunters"
- Mary Palmer
character in "The Alienist"
- Mary Test
character on animated series Johnny Test
- Bloody Mary
cocktail inspired by Mary I of England
- "Mary Jane Holland
" Lady Gaga song
- "Bloody Mary
" Lady Gaga song
- The Jesus and Mary Chain
band
- "Mary
" song by The Death Riders
- "Mary had a Little Lamb
" nursery rhyme
- "Mary
Mary, quite contrary," nursery rhyme
- "Mary
Mary," song by the Monkees
- "Mary's Song
" song by Taylor Swift
- "Mary
" song by Noah and the Whale
- "Miss Mary Mack
" song sung in hand clapping rhythm
- "Suddenly Mary
" song by the American alternative rock band The Posies
- "Mary
" song by Scissor Sisters
- Mary Janes
women's shoe
- Mary Jane
slang for marijuana
- Mary Sue
term for a perfect female character\
- Mary Shortnick
Character from the webcomic "Sparklecare Hospital"
- Mary Santiago
main character in movie "Another Cinderella Story"
- "England's Happiness in the Crowning of William and Mary"
17th century Broadside Ballad
- "Fair Mary of Wallington"
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- "Mary Hamilton"
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray"
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"