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Meaning of the nameMara

Mara is a female biblical name, from Hebrew mara, 'bitterness', the name that Naomi takes in the Book of Ruth.

Meaning

“'bitter', 'bitterness', from Hebrew mara”

Source: Behind the Name: Mara (1) · Wiktionary: Mara (English)

People (2022)
81,102
Rank in Brazil
#378
Median age
49 years
2010 Census
88,918
people

Mara in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Mara, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1960s (21,782 people).

80,796 women 306 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Mara is most common

States with the highest share of people named Mara in the population, in the 2022 Census.

  1. Rio Grande do Sul 0.141%
  2. Santa Catarina 0.057%
  3. Mato Grosso do Sul 0.045%
  4. Amapá 0.045%
  5. Piauí 0.042%
All states
StatePeople% of population
São Paulo18,1710.041%
Rio Grande do Sul15,3300.141%
Minas Gerais7,3270.036%
Rio de Janeiro6,6630.042%
Santa Catarina4,3080.057%
Paraná4,0770.036%
Ceará3,3630.038%
Pará2,9640.037%
Goiás2,7410.039%
Bahia2,4210.017%
Amazonas1,5910.040%
Espírito Santo1,4530.038%
Maranhão1,4300.021%
Piauí1,3720.042%
Mato Grosso do Sul1,2410.045%
Mato Grosso1,2160.033%
Distrito Federal9510.034%
Rio Grande do Norte8670.026%
Pernambuco7180.008%
Tocantins5430.036%
Rondônia4660.030%
Sergipe4500.020%
Alagoas3670.012%
Paraíba3560.009%
Amapá3300.045%
Roraima2160.034%
Acre1700.021%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Mara

According to Behind the Name, Mara means 'bitter' in Hebrew, and in the Book of Ruth it is the name that Naomi gives herself (Ruth 1:20). Wiktionary's English entry links the name to Hebrew מָרָא (mara), 'bitterness', from מַר (mar), 'bitter', and says that the modern name can also be a short form of Maria or Tamara. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 81,102 people named Mara, almost always women, with a median age of 49. Proportionally, it is most common in Rio Grande do Sul, and the Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil (Dictionary of Names in Use in Brazil) records the spelling variants Marah, Maara and Mahara.

Sources

  1. Behind the Name: Mara (1) · behindthename.com · meaning
  2. Wiktionary: Mara (English) · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
  3. Wiktionary: Mara (Portuguese) · en.wiktionary.org · usage
  4. Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Mara · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · spelling

Questions about the name Mara

What does the name Mara mean?

Mara means “'bitter', 'bitterness', from Hebrew mara”, according to Behind the Name and Wiktionary.

How many people are named Mara in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 81,102 people with the first name Mara, which ranks it number 378 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1960s.

Is Mara a boy's or a girl's name?

Mara is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 80,796 women and 306 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Mara?

Mara is a name of Hebrew origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Mara most common?

Proportionally, in Rio Grande do Sul: 0.141% of the state's population is named Mara (15,330 people), according to the 2022 Census.

More names of Hebrew origin

See all

Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Mara with a source. See the methodology.