Mavra as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Mavra

What is the meaning of the name Mavra ?

The baby name Mavra is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈmɑːvrə/ (MAHV-rah),/ˈmævrə/ (MAV-ruh),Russian: /ˈmavrə/ (MAHV-rah).

Mavra is Bulgarian, Greek, Serbian in Origin.

Mavra is a feminine given name in Greek and Slavic use, from Greek mavros “black, dark,” via Latin Maurus “Moorish.” The feminine form appears in Eastern Christian calendars through Saint Maura/Mavra of Egypt, a 3rd-century martyr commemorated on May 3, which aided its spread into medieval Rus’. The meaning evokes “dark” or “dusky,” once a physical descriptor rather than a value judgment.

Usage peaked in rural Russia and Ukraine in the 18th–19th centuries and is now rare, though still recognized in Greek communities (Agia Mavra is a common church dedication; Lefkada was once called Santa Maura). Variants and cognates include Maura (Italian, Spanish, English), Mavra (Russian Мавра, Ukrainian Мавра), and masculine Mauro and Maurus; distant relatives are Maurice and Morris. Cultural notes include Igor Stravinsky’s 1922 one-act opera Mavra, after Pushkin’s The Little House in Kolomna, which kept the name in literary circulation.

⚙ Mavra is a rare name. Across 12 countries, we found 42 recorded uses of it.