Where does “Maria” come from?
Maria derives from Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία, from Aramaic מַרְיָם, ultimately from Aramaic מרים, whose original meaning remains uncertain.
Ancestry of “Maria”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Maré | — |
| 2 | Middle English | mare | — |
| 3 | Old English | mare | mare |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | marā | evil spirit, nightmare |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | marǭ | evil spirit; succubus; incubus; nightmare |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | mor- | to blacken, to dirty; dirt spot; to rub, pound,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | mer- | to die; to disappear; sea, lake, wetland |
Words derived from “Maria”