Mari
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "bitter" or "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 13,535 living Americans carry the first name Mari. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mari today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mari births was 1957 (412 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mari. 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 Mari with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Mari is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 59 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
14K
~ 1 in 25,324 Americans
Peak year
1957
412 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,510
Tracked since 1897
Census
Mari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 21,053 people with the first name Mari, which placed it at #1,551 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
#1,551
National first-name rank
People counted
21K
21,053 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mari is White at 48.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.4%). 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 Mari 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 Mari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.6% · 10,223
- Hispanic or Latino29.5% · 6,212
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.4% · 2,185
- Black or African American6.5% · 1,363
- Two or more races4.6% · 970
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 100
Gender
Gender distribution for Mari
Out of the 16,506 babies given the name Mari since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Mari as a male name
- Ranked #9,519 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (13 births)
Mari as a female name
- Ranked #1,510 in 2024
- 143 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1957 (412 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mari leans strongly female. 20,534 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 511 male bearers (2.4%).
Popularity
Mari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mari from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 3,176 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mari 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 Mari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Mari, while South Dakota, Idaho, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 263 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mari
The name Mari has its origins in several languages and cultures, with varying meanings and historical references. It is derived from the Latin name Maria, which itself comes from the Hebrew name Miryam or Mariam. The name Maria was originally an ancient Hebrew name meaning "beloved" or "wished-for child."
In ancient Roman times, Maria was a revered name given to girls, often associated with the Virgin Mary from Christian tradition. The name Mari can be seen as a shortened form or diminutive of Maria, and it gained popularity across Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mari can be found in the ancient Finnish epic poem, the Kalevala, which features a character named Mari. In Finnish folklore, Mari was often portrayed as a mythological figure representing fertility and harvest.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Mari. One of the earliest was Mari de Ventadorn, a 12th-century Occitan troubadour and poet from southern France, known for her lyrical compositions.
In the 16th century, Mari Fortuna was a renowned Spanish feminist writer and philosopher, who advocated for women's rights and education during the Renaissance era.
Mari Andriessen, born in 1897 and died in 1979, was a Dutch composer and pianist known for her avant-garde works and contributions to modern music.
Mari Sandoz, born in 1896 and died in 1966, was an American author and educator, best known for her historical novels and biographies depicting the Native American experience in the Great Plains region.
Mari Evans, born in 1923 and died in 2017, was an influential African American poet, writer, and activist, who played a significant role in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
These are just a few examples of the diverse individuals who have carried the name Mari throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and cultures.
People
Mari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mari 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
Mari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,535 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mari 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 25,324 US residents.
Is Mari a common name?
We classify Mari as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,506 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mari most popular?
The single biggest year for Mari was 1957, when 412 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mari is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 21,053 people with the name Mari, or 6.97 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,551 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 Mari 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 Mari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mari leans strongly female. 20,534 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 511 male bearers (2.4%). 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 Mari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mari is White at 48.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.4%). 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 Mari most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.6% (10,223 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 Mari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mari a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Mari 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 Mari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mari 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 Mari 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 are named Mari?
Find out how many people share the name Mari on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.