Maria
Meaning and origin
From Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία (María), Μαριάμ (Mariám), from Aramaic מרים (Maryām), corresponding to the Hebrew מרים (Miryām). First recorded in Sweden in 1344.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Maria (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Maria has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 227 |
| 1999 | 189 |
| 2000 | 185 |
| 2001 | 158 |
| 2002 | 161 |
| 2003 | 144 |
| 2004 | 148 |
| 2005 | 132 |
| 2006 | 126 |
| 2007 | 143 |
| 2008 | 118 |
| 2009 | 117 |
| 2010 | 156 |
| 2011 | 118 |
| 2012 | 123 |
| 2013 | 119 |
| 2014 | 142 |
| 2015 | 155 |
| 2016 | 225 |
| 2017 | 227 |
| 2018 | 212 |
| 2019 | 214 |
| 2020 | 180 |
| 2021 | 165 |
| 2022 | 136 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 83,202 | 10 |
| 2000 | 83,022 | 11 |
| 2001 | 82,895 | 12 |
| 2002 | 82,752 | 11 |
| 2003 | 82,741 | 10 |
| 2004 | 82,601 | 11 |
| 2005 | 82,246 | – |
| 2006 | 81,960 | 10 |
| 2007 | 81,849 | – |
| 2008 | 82,026 | 10 |
| 2009 | 82,001 | 10 |
| 2010 | 81,907 | – |
| 2011 | 81,800 | – |
| 2012 | 81,786 | – |
| 2013 | 81,806 | – |
| 2014 | 81,972 | – |
| 2015 | 82,023 | – |
| 2016 | 82,306 | – |
| 2017 | 82,564 | – |
| 2018 | 82,725 | – |
| 2019 | 82,751 | – |
| 2020 | 82,731 | – |
Maria in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Maria.Hi! My name is Maria.
- Maria ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Maria called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Maria har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Maria has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Marias mamma är lärare.Maria's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Marias mamma is Maria's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Maria
How do you pronounce Maria in Swedish?
In IPA, Maria is /ma²riːa/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Maria mean?
From Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία (María), Μαριάμ (Mariám), from Aramaic מרים (Maryām), corresponding to the Hebrew מרים (Miryām). First recorded in Sweden in 1344.
How popular is Maria in Sweden?
136 babies were named Maria in 2022. In 2020, 82,731 people in Sweden had Maria as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.