María

Although María is exclusively a feminine name on its own, it can be used in combination with masculine names to differing results:

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- If María comes in first position, it's only used on women: María José, María Jesús...
- If María comes in second position, it's only used on men: José María, Jesús María, Antonio María, Carlos María...

This name is commonly used in combination with other names in Spanish-speaking countries, especially in first position (e.g. María José, María Isabel, María del Carmen). In those cases, María tends to lose its original stress (/ma.ˈɾi.a/) and instead shifts its pronunciation to unstressed /ma.ɾja/ (may retain some weaker stress on the first syllable "ma"). That being said, María is always pronounced /ma.ˈɾi.a/ on its own or when it comes in second position (e.g. Ana María).

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When making pet forms, it's common for María to become Mari (/ma.ɾi/) with the stress falling on a syllable from the second name (e.g. Marijose, Maribel, Maricarmen). Mari (/ˈma.ɾi/) can also be a diminutive of María on its own, which is the form it takes in combination names where María comes in second position (e.g. Ana María > Anamari /a.na.ˈma.ɾi/).

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Examples: [noted -ed]
María José /ma.ɾja.xo.ˈse/ >> Marijose /ma.ɾi.ˈxo.se/ (the different stress for José comes from a similar development as in María)
María Isabel /ma.ɾjai̯.sa.ˈβel/ >> Maribel /ma.ɾi.ˈβel/
María del Carmen /ma.ɾja.ðel.ˈkaɾ.men/ >> Maricarmen /ma.ɾi.ˈkaɾ.men/

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Ana María /a.na.ma.ˈɾi.a/ >> Anamari /a.na.ˈma.ɾi/
Jesús María /xe.suz.maˈɾi.a/ >> Jesusmari /xe.suz.ˈma.ɾi/

With 4 865 020 bearers, María is the 1st most common given name in Spain (2014 Data). About 100% of bearers of this name are Female in Spain (2014 Data).

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Source: https://forebears.io/spain/forenames

Also Aragonese: https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Mar%C3%ADa

Can also be used as a male name in combinations such as José María.

It is a very common Spanish name, too.