Maria

Maria travelled through four languages before it reached the rest of Europe. Wiktionary traces it from the Hebrew Miryam, the sister of Moses, to the Aramaic Maryam, then to Greek and finally to the Latin of the Vulgate Bible, which spread the form across the continent. English speakers later shaped it into Mary, while the Latin spelling lived on beside it.

Pinning down the original meaning is harder. Behind the Name lists 'sea of bitterness', 'rebelliousness' and 'wished-for child' as proposals, yet considers an Egyptian root linked to 'beloved' or 'love' the likeliest. The German Wiktionary adds a few more ideas, including a link with Latin mare, 'sea', and a Hebrew root meaning 'well-nourished'. Scholars have not settled the question, so any single translation you see should be taken as one theory among several.

Maria is the everyday form of the name in Italian, Spanish (as María), Portuguese, Romanian, Polish and German, which makes it easy to carry across borders. In Britain it is usually said 'muh-REE-uh', and occasionally 'muh-RYE-uh', a sound that gave rise to the spelling Mariah. In Germany and Italy a boy may even receive Maria as a middle name, a mainly Catholic custom.

With its three soft syllables, Maria balances well against a short middle name such as Maria Rose, Maria Jane or Maria Grace. Brothers and sisters with an equally international feel might be Anna, Sofia, Elena, Luca or Gabriel. Familiar nicknames include Mia and Ria.