Is Maria an Arabic name? What does it mean? Read on to find out more, including the meaning of the name Maria, its origin, pronunciation and if relevant, popularity.
What does Maria mean in Arabic?
Maria means variant of Mary, Miriam and Maryam.
Maria was the name of Maria the Coptic who was given to the prophet Muhammad. Narration states she was gifted to the prophet by the governer of Alexandria and she was asked to become a Muslim before being given to the prophet Muhammad, which she did. She bore him one son who died during his infancy.
It is very probable that this name gained popularity amongst Muslims after Maria the Copt. The name in itself has no Arabic origins, and is in fact another variant of ‘Mary’, ‘Miriam’ and ‘Maryam’. In fact, ‘Maria’ was the Latinised alternate to the Greek form ‘Mariam’ – ‘Maria’ is found in the Old Testament and this helps us understand the wordlwide popularity of ‘Maria’, particularly across Europe and South America. For those who may be interested, the name ‘Mary’ is an English form of ‘Maria’.
Maria is a female name.
Popularity of the name Maria
Maria is THE number one most popular name globally.
It ranks as the number one most popular name in over 26 countries across Europe, South America and some African countries. It ranks in the top 10 most popular names for over 65 different countries across the world.
In the Arabic-speaking world however, it is less popular. This may well be because Maria itself is a Biblical variant of the Arabic name ‘Mariam’, so many will opt for ‘Mariam’ instead. It is most popular in Lebanon (the country with the highest proportion of Christians in the Middle East), where it ranks as the 91th most popular name.
How to write Maria in Arabic:
Maria is written as ماریه
How to pronounce Maria:
Maria is pronounced Maa-ree-yaah.
Spelling variations of Maria
Mariya, Mariyah, Maariya, Maariyah