Girl name#1 of girl names
Mary
Pronounced M EH1 R IY0 (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 1921
- 145 years in use
- Biblical
How popular is Mary?
Mary is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 4,169,311 children — the most common girls' name on record.
It has been slipping, down 29% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1921, when 74,072 children were given it.
Characteristics
- Biblical (Person)
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- M EH1 R IY0
- Stress pattern:
- 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Mary
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Mary
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Mary?
- Mary ranks 1st among girls' names in US records, with 4,169,311 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 23,137.
- Is Mary a unisex name?
- No. Mary is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Mary most popular?
- 1921, when 74,072 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.