The first name Mary

Discover the meaning and origin of the first name Mary, its history and its evolution in baptism records preserved in Genealogy Quebec’s collections.

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About the first name Mary

Meaning

The name Mary is related to Marie. It shares the same historical root, even when the precise meaning varies across sources.

Historical origin

Mary belongs to the same name family as Marie. The name Marie comes from the Hebrew Miryam, transmitted through Greek Mariam or Maria and then Latin Maria.

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Mary also appears in several compound names in French-speaking tradition, including Mary-Ann, Mary-Jane. Form variants are common in older sources.

Pronunciation:ma-rymɛɹi

Frequency of the first name Mary by baptism year

The chart below shows the frequency of the first name Mary by the year of baptisms listed in Genealogy Quebec’s data. It highlights the periods when this first name appears most often and its evolution across generations.

2,943total mentions

Annual evolution of the first name MaryLine chart showing the frequency of the first name Mary in baptisms by year.50037525012501765181018551900194519901765–1769 1 baptisms1770–1774 2 baptisms1775–1779 5 baptisms1780–1784 4 baptisms1785–1789 5 baptisms1790–1794 3 baptisms1795–1799 10 baptisms1800–1804 12 baptisms1805–1809 6 baptisms1810–1814 8 baptisms1815–1819 14 baptisms1820–1824 28 baptisms1825–1829 59 baptisms1830–1834 126 baptisms1835–1839 151 baptisms1840–1844 276 baptisms1845–1849 253 baptisms1850–1854 311 baptisms1855–1859 319 baptisms1860–1864 374 baptisms1865–1869 210 baptisms1870–1874 111 baptisms1875–1879 145 baptisms1880–1884 91 baptisms1885–1889 50 baptisms1890–1894 60 baptisms1895–1899 49 baptisms1900–1904 32 baptisms1905–1909 38 baptisms1910–1914 45 baptisms1915–1919 21 baptisms1920–1924 23 baptisms1925–1929 24 baptisms1930–1934 27 baptisms1935–1939 21 baptisms1940–1944 6 baptisms1945–1949 5 baptisms1950–1954 7 baptisms1955–1959 4 baptisms1960–1964 3 baptisms1965–1969 1 baptisms1970–1974 2 baptisms1990–1994 1 baptisms

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