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Mari as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Mari

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The baby name Mari is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈmɑːri or ˈmæri/ (MAH-ree or MAIR-ee); Japanese: /maɾi/ (MAH-ree with a tapped r).

Mari is Basque, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin in Origin.

Gender: Female
Syllables: 2.0
Origin: Basque, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin
Pronunciation: /ˈmɑːri or ˈmæri/ (MAH-ree or MAIR-ee); Japanese: /maɾi/ (MAH-ree with a tapped r)

What is the meaning of the name Mari ?

The baby name Mari is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈmɑːri or ˈmæri/ (MAH-ree or MAIR-ee); Japanese: /maɾi/ (MAH-ree with a tapped r).

Mari is Basque, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin in Origin.

Used across cultures, Mari is primarily a vernacular form of Mary/Maria (ultimately from Hebrew Miryam) with debated meanings such as 'wished-for child,' 'beloved,' 'rebellion,' or 'sea of bitterness,' later poetically reinterpreted as 'star of the sea'. It is the standard Welsh form of Mary, a common Scandinavian and Finnish/Estonian short form of Maria, and a Georgian nickname for Mariam. In Estonian, mari is also the everyday word for 'berry'. In Japanese, Mari is independent, with meanings set by kanji (e.g., 真理 'truth', 麻里 'hemp village', 万里 'ten thousand miles'). In Basque lore, Mari names the powerful earth goddess.

Through Christian devotion, the name spread widely in medieval Europe and remains steady in modern registers from Norway to Georgia and in Japan's postwar given names. Variants and cognates include Mary, Marie, Maria, Miriam/Miryam, Mariam, Mariya, Máire, Maarja, Marit, Maris; related forms include Mariko.

Mari has the following similar or variant Names

Famous people with the name Mari

Mari Kiviniemi Politician · Born 1968 · Finland Mari Kiviniemi is best known as Finland’s second female prime minister, serving from 2010 to 2011. She is a Finnish politician who became the country’s 41st prime minister and has also held other prominent public leadership roles.

Mari – Popularity by country

Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.

Country Gender Year Rank Born of
Ireland Girls 2010 #1 — 983
GE Girls 0 #3 725 1,564
GE 0 #6 58 997
EE 0 #11 29 1,051
SV Girls 0 #11 8 458
GT Girls 0 #12 2,727 7,500
JP 0 #15 69 4,057
HN Girls 0 #16 21 884
BF Girls 0 #17 1 315
DJ 0 #17 1 322
Finland 0 #17 1,234 830
MV 0 #17 3 644
HN 0 #19 4 704
MV Girls 0 #20 16 2,021
JP Girls 0 #21 541 6,592
MX Girls 0 #23 25,886 17,781
Spain Girls 0 #24 26,701 5,561
Finland Girls 0 #24 4,045 1,368
DJ Girls 0 #26 4 488
ET Boys 0 #27 1 678
CR Girls 0 #28 2,232 11,342
EE Girls 0 #30 165 1,888
NA 0 #31 3 2,537
TM Girls 0 #33 3 574
MD 0 #34 1 434
DJ Boys 0 #36 1 657
GT 0 #36 619 5,948
Finland Girls 2026 #40 15,047 3,895
MT 0 #42 2 1,767
PR 0 #47 9 1,497
CM 0 #55 2 2,592
BO Girls 0 #58 2,784 9,488
AL 0 #65 11 2,372
LU 0 #65 2 2,830
AZ Girls 0 #69 7 1,051
EC Girls 0 #69 270 3,650
GE Boys 0 #69 43 2,055
Norway Girls 2025 #71 63 453
MV Boys 0 #72 8 3,375
AO 0 #74 4 2,729
AF 0 #75 2 1,883
EC 0 #75 41 2,502
PA Girls 0 #76 926 9,861
AF Girls 0 #80 15 2,402
SI 0 #80 1 1,612
BG 0 #81 2 1,799
RU Girls 0 #81 2,207 11,913
Spain 0 #84 916 2,326
PE Girls 0 #84 6,506 14,861
MD Girls 0 #85 8 865
PH 0 #85 12 5,607
AR Girls 0 #88 2,271 8,289
LT 0 #88 1 949
KZ 0 #91 4 1,452
CR 0 #92 67 5,526
QA 0 #99 8 7,011
CY Girls 0 #100 22 3,755
ID Girls 0 #102 1 3,319
SD 0 #102 1 2,130
TW 0 #103 1 4,523
BR Girls 0 #107 4,831 12,708
CO Girls 0 #108 9,991 16,140
PA 0 #110 21 3,797
BN Girls 0 #111 4 5,459
HU 0 #111 5 1,675
BO 0 #113 400 6,868
GR Girls 0 #114 146 6,293
GR 0 #116 19 3,911
PR Girls 0 #116 47 3,171
KW 0 #118 4 5,216
OM 0 #118 4 6,215
MT Girls 0 #131 21 3,773
IQ 0 #133 1 3,533
UY Girls 0 #133 936 6,731
Switzerland Girls 2024 #134 2 1,786
BN Boys 0 #134 6 6,332
ID Boys 0 #134 2 4,130
BR 0 #135 262 5,969
MU 0 #135 3 3,613
RS Girls 0 #135 3 1,651
JO 0 #139 2 2,158
RU 0 #139 51 3,641
HU Girls 0 #141 92 3,308
UY 0 #150 28 2,477
BW Girls 0 #151 1 4,216
LT Boys 0 #151 1 2,166
AL Girls 0 #152 74 4,141
AR 0 #153 34 2,915
BW Boys 0 #153 2 4,685
LU Girls 0 #158 28 4,850
SI Girls 0 #164 11 2,769
HU Boys 0 #170 5 3,954
Sweden Girls 2022 #176 4 1,568
CZ 0 #176 10 3,154
HR 0 #178 4 2,081
LT Girls 0 #178 17 1,904
PR Boys 0 #178 1 2,508
AE 0 #179 9 10,220
MT Boys 0 #179 1 4,064
BG Girls 0 #182 42 3,559
KZ Girls 0 #182 181 5,862
AO Girls 0 #186 24 4,575
MX 0 #188 264 8,339
Austria 0 #191 23 850
DK 0 #192 12 5,198
CL Girls 0 #196 2,190 14,098
PL 0 #202 11 2,600
France Boys 1922 #203 4 597
NA Girls 0 #203 22 7,146
PE 0 #207 105 6,350
BG Boys 0 #217 4 3,850
QA Girls 0 #218 99 15,378
IR 0 #219 11 4,221
LU Boys 0 #219 2 4,970
PS 0 #222 5 5,692
PT 0 #225 22 4,161
IR Girls 0 #227 407 8,334
IT Girls 0 #229 8,103 9,415
BD 0 #235 7 5,992
EC Boys 0 #238 9 3,322
MA 0 #238 4,213 20,986
MO Girls 0 #241 11 7,056
HR Girls 0 #243 47 3,687
CZ Girls 0 #244 100 5,378
GH 0 #245 4 5,396
AO Boys 0 #246 4 5,568
NA Boys 0 #249 5 6,830
GR Boys 0 #250 18 6,912
HR Boys 0 #253 7 3,997
SG 0 #254 16 11,010
JM Boys 0 #255 18 6,876
AL Boys 0 #256 43 5,122
TW Boys 0 #256 1 7,111
PH Girls 0 #258 134 13,098
TW Girls 0 #260 17 8,139
KW Girls 0 #263 271 19,177
DZ 0 #270 2,596 20,130
NG 0 #271 2 5,926
PT Girls 0 #271 208 7,952
PL Girls 0 #273 83 5,096
AF Boys 0 #274 1 3,535
IL 0 #275 8 6,291
JM Girls 0 #275 4 7,507
Canada Girls 2024 #279 7 2,795
DK Girls 0 #279 38 7,429
SA 0 #279 17 10,560
OM Girls 0 #282 115 15,987
Austria Girls 0 #289 136 1,885
JO Girls 0 #289 37 7,570
CZ Boys 0 #292 13 6,530
KZ Boys 0 #293 4 6,578
IT 0 #297 728 4,183
JP Boys 0 #300 4 7,909
ZA 0 #300 148 14,421
GH Girls 0 #301 24 6,973
CL 0 #308 105 6,867
MU Girls 0 #309 43 8,539
SD Girls 0 #317 29 7,678
SG Boys 0 #317 482 17,960
CO 0 #318 178 7,768
CN Boys 0 #330 2 9,639
DK Boys 0 #331 2 7,401
PL Boys 0 #332 9 6,459
YE 0 #334 48 8,639
CN Girls 0 #337 13 8,829
AE Girls 0 #343 214 20,968
Germany 0 #344 96 2,542
MY 0 #347 8 12,352
Germany Girls 0 #349 751 4,949
NL 0 #349 43 2,481
HK 0 #351 7 8,483
GH Boys 0 #361 1 8,138
SY 0 #363 479 11,684
PH Boys 0 #365 19 11,440
MU Boys 0 #367 3 8,477
BD Girls 0 #368 19 8,413
JO Boys 0 #368 10 7,057
PT Boys 0 #379 3 7,951
UY Boys 0 #380 20 5,922
IQ Girls 0 #382 123 11,303
EG 0 #388 13 6,387
France Girls 2020 #392 3 3,215
GT Boys 0 #393 82 7,625
AR Boys 0 #395 73 7,628
PS Girls 0 #400 126 10,981
Finland Boys 0 #404 24 2,041
LY 0 #413 125 12,703
BH 0 #415 139 17,937
CM Girls 0 #418 124 11,671
Austria Boys 0 #432 11 2,180
ZA Girls 0 #450 1,146 25,928
IL Girls 0 #455 166 11,648
PA Boys 0 #457 25 9,305
SD Boys 0 #458 9 10,523
CR Boys 0 #460 28 10,188
SG Girls 0 #461 126 18,916
KW Boys 0 #466 321 18,755
RU Boys 0 #466 40 12,621
SA Girls 0 #487 489 25,931
OM Boys 0 #505 422 17,948
IN Boys 0 #522 563 16,750
LB 0 #525 134 13,263
BO Boys 0 #527 66 9,244
IR Boys 0 #530 23 10,162
PS Boys 0 #530 19 10,655
HK Girls 0 #542 74 16,104
TN 0 #543 323 13,765
HK Boys 0 #554 4 12,905
IN Girls 0 #561 71 13,121
BD Boys 0 #564 13 10,045
CM Boys 0 #567 9 12,054
MX Boys 0 #572 500 16,355
NL Boys 0 #577 418 5,873
IL Boys 0 #595 13 10,983
QA Boys 0 #601 107 18,093
CL Boys 0 #611 55 13,390
IQ Boys 0 #626 42 13,071
Spain Boys 0 #631 315 5,610
AE Boys 0 #632 522 22,615
BR Boys 0 #665 87 12,213
TR 0 #681 839 19,440
EG Girls 0 #690 282 14,742
NL Girls 0 #695 267 5,933
CO Boys 0 #711 214 15,656
NG Girls 0 #750 37 15,093
PE Boys 0 #754 125 14,506
United States Girls 2024 #774 143 8,487
MY Boys 0 #784 340 25,439
MY Girls 0 #790 205 24,821
EG Boys 0 #849 38 15,035
Germany Boys 0 #878 75 5,697
United States Boys 2024 #885 8 7,044
NG Boys 0 #915 37 16,906
IT Boys 0 #937 561 10,046
SA Boys 0 #1,021 683 28,008
ZA Boys 0 #1,153 26 25,619

Mari is popular in 96 countries — most recent births per country:

Norway
France
Canada
Scotland, United Kingdom
United States

Did we miss something about this name? Let us know!

People also ask about Mari

Mari is predominantly a girl's name.
Mari is a 2 syllable name, pronounced /ˈmɑːri or ˈmæri/ (MAH-ree or MAIR-ee); Japanese: /maɾi/ (MAH-ree with a tapped r).
Common nicknames and spelling variations include Marie, Maria, Mariam, Marija, Marika and Marit.
Across languages, Mari has these equivalents: Mary (English), Maria (Spanish/Latin), Marie (French), Miriam (Hebrew), Mariam (Georgian/Armenian), and 3 more.
Yes, very popular — Mari ranked #1 in Ireland in 2010, and appears in official birth registries across 9 countries.
Mari ranks highest in Ireland (#1 in 2010).
Mari's popularity is declining significantly. It moved from #41 in 2015 to #71 in 2025 in Norway.
Yes — 1 notable people named Mari are in our database, including Mari Kiviniemi (Politician).