Mara
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitter" or "bitterness".
Name Census estimates that about 21,666 living Americans carry the first name Mara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mara today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mara births was 2021 (568 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mara. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Mara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
22K
~ 1 in 15,820 Americans
Peak year
2021
568 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
1989 SSA rank
#588
Tracked since 1892
Census
Mara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 24,761 people with the first name Mara, which placed it at #1,402 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,402
National first-name rank
People counted
25K
24,761 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mara is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.2%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mara described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.6% · 17,482
- Hispanic or Latino19.2% · 4,759
- Two or more races4.1% · 1,016
- Black or African American3.1% · 779
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 628
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 97
Gender
Gender distribution for Mara
Out of the 23,551 babies given the name Mara since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Mara as a male name
- Ranked #8,739 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1983 (6 births)
Mara as a female name
- Ranked #588 in 2024
- 514 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (568 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mara appears almost entirely female. Of the 24,761 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Mara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mara from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 4,038 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Mara remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mara by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Mara, while Vermont, New Mexico, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 420 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mara
The name Mara is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, with roots in ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "mara," which means "death" or "destroying." In Hindu mythology, Mara is the name of a demon who personifies temptation, sin, and death, acting as the chief adversary of the Buddha.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Mara can be found in Buddhist scriptures, particularly the Pali Canon. In these texts, Mara is depicted as a powerful demonic force that attempts to prevent the Buddha from attaining enlightenment. The name symbolizes the spiritual obstacles and temptations that one must overcome on the path to enlightenment.
The name Mara has also been associated with the Latin word "mare," meaning "sea." In this context, the name may have been used to describe someone with a connection to the sea or maritime activities. However, this connection is less well-established than the Sanskrit origin.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Mara. One of the earliest recorded instances is Mara bar Serapion, a Stoic philosopher who lived in the 1st century AD. He is known for a letter he wrote describing the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire.
Another historical figure with the name Mara is Saint Mara of Camargue, a 6th-century Christian martyr from France. Legend has it that she was executed for her faith during the reign of the Frankish King Clovis I.
In the realm of literature, Mara is the name of a character in the epic poem "Paradise Lost" by John Milton (1608-1674). In the poem, Mara is a fallen angel who tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden, leading to the downfall of humanity.
Mara Dyer is the protagonist of a young adult novel series written by Michelle Hodkin, which was popular in the 2010s. The character's name adds a layer of mystery and intrigue to the story, reflecting the character's struggles with supernatural events.
In the field of art, Mara was the name of a prominent Russian painter, Mara Belasheva (1900-1938), known for her avant-garde style and association with the Russian avant-garde movement in the early 20th century.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Mara
People
Mara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21,666 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mara going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 15,820 US residents.
Is Mara a common name?
We classify Mara as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 23,551 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mara most popular?
The single biggest year for Mara was 2021, when 568 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mara is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 24,761 people with the name Mara, or 8.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,402 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mara in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mara appears almost entirely female. Of the 24,761 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mara is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.2%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mara most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (17,482 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mara a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Mara in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mara in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mara can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Mara?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Mara, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.