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ArchivesWhen was Maria first regularly used in Iberia and Italy?
I am writing my next column on the name Maria. I have known for years that in the early Middle Ages in western Europe because of the veneration of the Virgin Mary it was considered sacrilegious to name infants Mary, in the same way outside of Spanish-speaking culture it is usually considered improper to name a boy Jesus.
I am trying to find out when that attitude changed in various parts of Europe. The Swedish and German name dictionaries I own have told me that Maria was not often used in those countries until after the Reformation, with the Protestants the first to use it. My name dictionary from Poland says the same, even saying it was still considered pretentious in many Roman Catholic parts of Poland to name a daughter Maria until the middle of the 19th century.
Unfortunately the dictionary I have from Spain gives no information on historical usage of names there. The dictionary I have from Mexico says that "for many centuries" Maria was considered too sacred to use, but it doesn't say just when that changed in Spanish speaking culture.
My Italian name dictionary actually doesn't mention anything about the use of Maria in medieval times in Italy. My Dutch name dictionary says that Maria wasn't used in Florence until the middle of the 11th century. This would be a lot earlier than in Germany or Poland, but doesn't really tell me if this was true across Italy.
Does anyone who reads the Name Facts board have more information about when Maria was first regularly given to girls in Spain, Portugal, or Italy?
I am trying to find out when that attitude changed in various parts of Europe. The Swedish and German name dictionaries I own have told me that Maria was not often used in those countries until after the Reformation, with the Protestants the first to use it. My name dictionary from Poland says the same, even saying it was still considered pretentious in many Roman Catholic parts of Poland to name a daughter Maria until the middle of the 19th century.
Unfortunately the dictionary I have from Spain gives no information on historical usage of names there. The dictionary I have from Mexico says that "for many centuries" Maria was considered too sacred to use, but it doesn't say just when that changed in Spanish speaking culture.
My Italian name dictionary actually doesn't mention anything about the use of Maria in medieval times in Italy. My Dutch name dictionary says that Maria wasn't used in Florence until the middle of the 11th century. This would be a lot earlier than in Germany or Poland, but doesn't really tell me if this was true across Italy.
Does anyone who reads the Name Facts board have more information about when Maria was first regularly given to girls in Spain, Portugal, or Italy?
This message was edited 11/30/2021, 10:17 AM
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Replies
I love researching things like this so I did a little bit of digging - this is a concise list of the earliest regional appearance of each name that I could find! You can use your own judgement to decide whether you would consider these to be common/regular usage - in my experience, greater than 15/20 uses in one city in one year would have made it fairly common.
910-940 - Monastery of Sahagun, Spain, used twice at 6% of the sample
974 - Southern Italy
1063 - Southern Italy
1100 - Monastery of Sahagun, Spain, used 16 times at 24% of the sample
1125 - Salerno, Italy
1285 - Perugia, Italy, used ten times
1300 - Monastery of Sahagun, Spain, used 13 times at 41% of the sample!
1312 - Imola, Italy, used four times
1300s - Venice, Italy
1427 - Florence, Italy, used 17 times at 1.1% of the sample
1500s - Rome, Italy, used 7 times
I see a slow increase in Italian usage here, beginning perhaps around 1250, and a much more marked increase in Spanish usage by 1100.
910-940 - Monastery of Sahagun, Spain, used twice at 6% of the sample
974 - Southern Italy
1063 - Southern Italy
1100 - Monastery of Sahagun, Spain, used 16 times at 24% of the sample
1125 - Salerno, Italy
1285 - Perugia, Italy, used ten times
1300 - Monastery of Sahagun, Spain, used 13 times at 41% of the sample!
1312 - Imola, Italy, used four times
1300s - Venice, Italy
1427 - Florence, Italy, used 17 times at 1.1% of the sample
1500s - Rome, Italy, used 7 times
I see a slow increase in Italian usage here, beginning perhaps around 1250, and a much more marked increase in Spanish usage by 1100.
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You might find the Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources a useful reference for this. It's essentially a collation of confirmed references for name uses throughout the medieval period. I know the person who runs it and can vouch for her commitment to accuracy!
https://dmnes.org/name/Mary
Guide to the structure of the entries here:
https://dmnes.org/guide
This would tend to indicate that versions of Mary have been found in Italy and Spain in Latin sources from the 900s onwards, and in all three countries in local languages from the 1200s.
https://dmnes.org/name/Mary
Guide to the structure of the entries here:
https://dmnes.org/guide
This would tend to indicate that versions of Mary have been found in Italy and Spain in Latin sources from the 900s onwards, and in all three countries in local languages from the 1200s.
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Thanks so much for your help! :)
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I'm afraid I don't have an answer, but as a Maria who lives outside the US and would love to read your column but is unfortunately unable to due to pesky international media laws, would you be all right with me asking you to email it to me when it comes out? Or alternatively if you have something like a newspaper to let us international name fans read your column regularly that would me lovely :) but of course it's fine if you don't!
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I would be happy to email this to you when I finish it. Just send me your email in a private message.
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I don't know about the use of Maria in Iberia/Italy, but it may interest you to know that in Irish/Gaeilge there is a version of Mary used only for the BVM. She is Muire, which is never used as a given name.
I would be interested in knowing if this was ever reflected in the use of the vernacular/written Latin used in the Irish church? As far as I know it isn't and Maria was used for Mary, for both the BVM and the given name Mary in Masses, and church registers, etc.
I would be interested in knowing if this was ever reflected in the use of the vernacular/written Latin used in the Irish church? As far as I know it isn't and Maria was used for Mary, for both the BVM and the given name Mary in Masses, and church registers, etc.
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According to "El nombre de persona en la documentación castellana medieval" (in English: "Given name in medieval Castilian documentation"), by María Simón Parra; the name María was common in the 13th century (High Middle Ages) in all the Spanish territory at that time.
It should be noted that the Iberian Peninsula was Christian at the start of the 13th century.
Hope this helps. :)
It should be noted that the Iberian Peninsula was Christian at the start of the 13th century.
Hope this helps. :)
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