Mary
Mary is a popular name worldwide originally derived from the ancient Egyptian word Mery meaning 'beloved', and is the most popular name for a female in the United States. During the 1990 US Census, approximately 2.629% of females counted had the first name Mary. In Ireland, it has also been a popular middle name for males - see Joseph Mary Plunkett for example.
There have been a number of important women who have gone by the name Mary:
Biblical Marys:
- Mary, the mother of Jesus
- Mary Magdalene
- Mary, the wife of Cleopas
- Mary, sister of Lazarus
- Mary, mother of John Mark
- Mary (biblical, Romans 16:6)
- Miriam
Historical Marys:
- various Queen Marys
- Mary I of England
- Mary II of England
- Mary, Queen of Scots
- Mary I of Portugal
- Mary II of Portugal
- Mary of Hungary
- Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
- Typhoid Mary
See also:
- Mary programming language
- Mary, a city in Turkmenistan
Mary is Miriam in the Hebrew and Arabic languages.
A similar name in Japanese, Mari, means "eternal truth".
Quotation
In 1905, George M. Cohan wrote a song called "Mary" [1] which ended:
- For it is Mary, Mary,
- Plain as any name can be
- But with propriety,
- Society will say Marie
- But it was Mary, Mary,
- Long before the fashions came
- And there is something
- There that sounds so fair,
- It's a grand old name
Gay slang
Mary is slang in some gay communities for a male homosexual.