The baby name Marie hits a sweet spot – traditional, stylish, immediately recognized and yet seldom heard. At least, when it comes to a first names.

Thanks to Shannon for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

Table of Contents

MARY, MARIA, MARIE

The baby name Marie belongs to the Mary family. And it’s a heavy hitter.

With a long history of use, countless international variations, and immediate recognition worldwide, Mary names are everywhere.

The Biblical Miriam or Mariam became Maria in Latin, and Marie evolved from Maria. Mary is the English form.

It brings to mind the Virgin Mary, mother of God. Maria tempts us to break into song, “I just met a girl named Maria …” or “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”

The baby name Marie seems distinctively different, too. It’s French, worn by queens and saints, an animated aristocat and a world-changing scientist.

NOTABLE MARIES

Distinguished Maries are found across the centuries.

For example, in the twelfth century Marie de France wrote poetry in England. Her identity is lost to time, but many of her works endure.

Queens and other royals answer to Marie. Many will immediately think of the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, born Maria Antonia.

Swedish-Italian ballerina Marie Taglioni became a celebrated dancer in the nineteenth century. In fact, she may have been the very first ballerina to dance en pointe.

New Orleans visitors hear about legendary voodoo priestess Marie Laveau.

That’s quite a range of Maries, nearly all French-leaning and every one unforgettable.

WOMAN of SCIENCE

Born Maria Skłodowska in Poland in 1867, the budding scientist began her studies in Warsaw. She left for Paris in her early twenties. Skłodowska earned her advanced degrees, and also married fellow scientist Pierre Curie.

In 1903, she and Pierre shared the Noble Prize in Physics for their work on radioactivity. Later, she earned the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on her own, for work discovering two new elements.

Marie Curie lends the name some intriguing depth, making it a hero name as much as a classic choice.

MUSICAL MARIES

Irving Berlin’s song “Marie” was among his very first compositions. It became a hit, covered by dozens of artists over the years. Here’s Rudy Vallee’s rendition, circa 1929.

During the 1970s, Marie Osmond – born Olive Marie – co-hosted Donny and Marie. The Osmond siblings hosted an hour-long variety show for four years. Donny also recorded hits with his brothers in The Osmonds; Marie scored her own country music hit, “Paper Roses,” in 1973.

And if you need one more pop culture reference with musical overtones: Marie was sister to Berlioz and Toulouse in 1970 Disney animated classic The Aristocats. While you might not think of the feline-centered film as a musical, it included a number of original songs, including some from the legendary Sherman brothers.

A RARITY?

We’ve all heard the baby name Marie tucked into the middle spot countless times.

And yet, the number suggest that Marie is almost rare as a given name. It’s certainly uncommon.

  • Mary ranked #1 from 1880 through 1961, charting in the Top Ten through 1971, before falling to #136 in 2022.
  • Maria is actually the most popular today, appearing in the Top 100 every year since the 1940s. As of 2022, the name is back in the US Top 100 at #91.
  • As for Marie, it always lagged behind Mary. From 1895 through 1905, the baby name Marie charted in the US Top Ten. But the name left the Top 100 after 1957.

At #599 in 2022, the baby name Marie feels almost rare.

HIDDEN CLASSIC

The baby name Marie substitutes for Charlotte or Elizabeth. It feels every bit as classic as Katherine, almost as brief as Grace or Claire.

And the name’s French lilt lends it some extra appeal, too.

If the baby name Marie is on your family tree – possibly as a neglected middle – this is one to consider. But do think about making the baby name Marie a first. It has all the history and charm, and feels surprisingly refreshing as a given name.

What do you think of the baby name Marie?

MARIE

hidden classic

baby name Marie
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A traditional choice, Marie is too often stuck in the middle spot, but shines as an elegant, unexpected, yet familiar, first.

Popularity

#599 for girls in the US as of 2022

Trend

holding steady

Origin

debated; possibly from the Egyptian word for love, but might also mean bitter, rebellious, or wished-for child

First published on March 13, 2012, this updated on January 4, 2022 and January 9, 2024.

About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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What do you think?

30 Comments

  1. My grandmothers were both named Marie, as am I – and one of them had a sister AND a first cousin named Camille. Those names really work together & I love it

  2. My first name is Marie (after both grandmother) & my middle is Victoria (after my mom). I’ve always liked that combination

  3. Marie is my middle name and I don’t want to pass it down in the middle spot. I either want to pass it down as Marigold or as Marie in the first name spot. I feel like I want it to be a double name or that it needs a really unusual name in the middle spot…. I kind of like Marie-Sophie, Marie-Evangeline, Marie-Alys, Marie-Alwyn, or Marie-Corwyn. Thoughts? I also like Marie Kasiani, Marie Kseniya, Marie Bellamy, Marie Emmeline, Marie Emilina, Marie Azure, Marie Rhosyn, Marie Rhoswen, but I’m not sure any of them are “the one”. Sisters would be Sylvie Elisabeth and Susannah Sparrow. Any good combo ideas for Marie?

  4. I am pregnant with a Marie a we speak. She’s due on Christmas day, which I think is a very fitting day to have a Marie….that is if she actually comes on her due date 🙂 The full names we’re tossing around are Marie Millicent Louise and Marie Beatrice Louise.

    1. LOVE the combinations you’re considering. Funny how such a classic name can be so unexpected!

  5. I have a very sweet and beautiful four year old Marie. She is named for my much loved grandmother, whose real name was Mary, but everyone called her Marie. My Marie’s middle name is Camille. Her eyes look just like those of Marie from the Aristocats. In fact, one Halloween she dressed up as “Marie cat” and carried her stuffed toy cat with her trick-or-treating. Before she was born, I couldn’t really picture a little girl Marie. Now I can’t imaging her as anything else. She is girly, but can keep up with her older brothers climbing trees and playing in the creek. She is a lot like my grandmother. I love to tell her about the great-grandmother for whom she was named.

    1. Oh that’s LOVELY! Marie Camille is gorgeous and I teared up reading your story. I have a beloved grandmother Mary too (Maria in the birth certificate but always called Mary) who died last year and now I’m starting to wonder if I might use it as a middle name for my future daughter.

  6. An old friend mine has daughters named Grace and Marie, she’s the only Marie I know who is less than 40.

    We have a Maria. Honestly, I hadn’t really considered one of the Mary names… But when we adopted her and her First-Mom told us the story behind her (originally middle) name, I fell in love with Maria. It doesn’t hurt that my mom is named Mary Ann and my MIL’s middle name is Marie.

    I’m a geek, so I’ll mention that Anna Paquin’s character in the X-men films is named Marie (Rogue.) In the comics she’s named Anna Marie.

  7. I know a 20-something Marie! She only answers to Marie – not Marie Anne, not Marie Charlotte, not Marie Elizabeth, etc. Her name has always stood out to me since she’s the only Marie, of ANY age, that I’ve ever met. It’s also a great name to yell across a field: “MARIEEEEEE!” Another notable Marie is Marie Colvin, the American journalist who was killed last February in Syria. She was beyond brave and would make an awe-inspiring namesake.

  8. I’m a French sixteen-year-old Marie, and it was really a lovely surprise to find that my name was today’s NotD.
    Like many others, I have a love-to-hate relationship with my name. It was the #1 name for the XXth century overall in France, so it feels very ubiquitous, which annoys me to no end – although I’d choose a plain name over an ugly name any day. However, the simple ‘Marie’ version declined noticeably after WWII (whereas the Marie-something names were everywhere), meaning that there are very few thirty-to-sixty women sharing my name, which spares me the ‘Oh, just like my Mum’ reaction my sister Anne is so familiar with (knowing that in France, since we aren’t used to naming babies after older family members, bearing an out-of-style name can be truly excruciating). Moreover, my name is actually part of a trend since there was a Marie revival (to a lesser extent) during the 90’s, with the name having a rather classic, upper-class, BCBG feel (as opposed to before 1950, when Marie was not particularly seen as up-market). Today it’s very common to meet a ten-to-twenty-year-old Marie de Something in France, while lower/middle-class girls are more likely to be named Marine. However it was never perceived as pompous or snobby, but more as oh-so-simple-and-classic, which I’m very grateful for. I’d say it’s the French equivalent of Alice or Sophie.
    When I’m introduced to English-speaking people, though, I almost always tell them to call me Mary. It’s plainer, but it’s also more classic than Marie which feels a bit dated. And most of all, the French pronunciation of Marie is way more similar to Mary than to the English Marie (it’s Ma-ree, as in stack, and not Muh-ree).

    1. Thanks for the interesting insight regarding the use of Marie in France in the past century!

    2. Fascinating, Hermia – thank you so much! I actually have a 20-something cousin called Marie, and now that you describe it as similar to Alice and Sophie, I think that’s exactly it – there’s nothing flashy about Marie, but she’s not plain, either. Interesting that there is less of a tradition of naming children after older relatives. Is that true for boys and girls?

      1. It is, actually. The naming-babies-after-relatives phenomenon, which is omnipresent in English-speaking countries, is close to inexistent in France. However, middle names are seen very differently, less of an alternative name and more of a completely useless but beloved tradition. A significant part of the parenting population simply doesn’t see the point of middle-naming whereas some babies have up to five given names. For those there can be one or two names that the parents loved (it helps to solve out naming arguments), biblical names (typically Marie and possibly Anne, regardless of the sex of the baby), the names of the grandparents (both grandmothers’ names for girls and both grandfathers’ for the boys) and/or the names of the godparents: sometimes the feminized/masculinized version of the opposite sex godparent, sometimes the name itself, meaning that someone named Jeanne with godparents named Valentin and B

      2. Very, very fascinating and well-articulated. However, I’d say that prior to the widespread use of social networking sites such as facebook — where people routinely list their entire given name and sometimes both their married and maiden surnames — most Anglophones didn’t actually know the middle names of a majority of their aquaintances. Of course, in school there are certain settings where an entire name might be announced, but even that is dependent on the region or school you’re attending.

        Then there are the name nerds such as myself who eagerly sought out the midle names of friends and lamented those who went without a name bridging their first and last (quite a common occurence in India in the past).

  9. I really like the idea of use Marie in a similar fashion to the French, i.e. Marie Sophie, Marie Poppy etc.

  10. My older sister has the middle name Marie and I fear that for me it is all middle name.
    In the tv show Medium the youngest daughter is named Marie to go with sisters Ariel and Bridget.