Maire
Feminine
Maire is the Irish Mary, and Irish did something with that name that almost no other language attempted: it split it in two, keeping one form for the mother of Christ and giving the other to everybody else.
How old is the name Maire?
Maire first appears in US birth records in 1901 — 124 years ago. The typical Maire alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 700 people named Maire are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maire most popular?
Maire peaked in 1901, reaching #1679 nationally. See the whole 1901 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Maryam to Maire
The story of Maire
For centuries Irish families would not give a daughter the name of the Virgin — it was held to be too much, the way some traditions will not use the name of God directly. What the language did instead was elegant: it kept Muire for the Virgin alone, a form that no ordinary woman carries, and let Máire serve everybody else. Two words, one name, and a line drawn in the grammar itself. Other names filled the gap in the meantime — Máirín, Mairéad, Maura, Moira — so that English eventually received the same Irish name three or four times over in different shapes and treated each arrival as a separate name. They are one word that got through customs repeatedly.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Hebrew name behind every Mary in the world has never been explained. Bitter, beloved and an Egyptian reading have all been argued, and the argument is very old. The Irish form inherits the uncertainty along with the name.
How the name formed
- Maryam
- Maria
- Máire
Related forms: Máire · Màiri · Moira · Maura
Pronouncing Maire
MOY-ruh
In Irish the name is said closer to MAW-ruh or MOY-ruh depending on the region. American readers usually try MARE or muh-REE, neither of which is right.
Nicknames for Maire
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1901
- Most girls named
- 198922 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1679reached in 1901
- Change vs 2022
- −28.6%5 in 2024, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Maire in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Máire in Irish — same name
- Màiri in Scottish Gaelic — same name
- Moira in English — related form
- Maura in English — related form
Maires among us
people named Maire are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Maire sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is one of the oldest and most universally recognized names in the world, in a form that very few Americans carry.
- It connects directly to a living language rather than a dead one.
- It is short and simple once the pronunciation is known.
- Americans will read it as Mare or Mary and she will be correcting that for life.
- The Irish spelling carries a mark over the first vowel that American forms will not keep.
- The meaning behind every form of the name is genuinely unsettled.
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What they receive
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Maire
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Maires are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Maire are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maire in 2025?
- Maire is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Maire with classmates?
- Maire will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maire? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maire and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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