Marika
Feminine · “little Mary”
Marika is not an invention or a respelling. It is Mária with the ordinary Hungarian diminutive ending on it, formed exactly the way Hungarian forms every affectionate name, and in Hungary it is about as remarkable as calling a Margaret Maggie.
How old is the name Marika?
Marika first appears in US birth records in 1946 — 79 years ago. The typical Marika alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 2,200 people named Marika are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marika most popular?
Marika peaked in 1993, reaching #1590 nationally. See the whole 1993 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Mária to Marika
The story of Marika
Hungary keeps an official list of the first names parents are permitted to give. It is maintained by a research institute under the Academy of Sciences, and a name that is not on it has to be submitted for approval, with a written opinion issued on whether it is suitable. Very few countries do this and almost no English-speaking one would tolerate it. The effect is that names like this one have a documented, official status: they either are or are not permitted, and there is an office that can tell you which. It also means the affectionate forms occupy an odd position, since a diminutive so ordinary that everyone uses it may still need clearance before it can appear on a birth certificate.
Meaning
little Mary
Mária is the Hungarian form of Mary, and the ending is the standard Hungarian diminutive suffix. The construction is completely regular, which is why the name looks exotic in English and looks like nothing at all in Budapest.
How the name formed
- Mária
- Marika
Related forms: Marika · Marika · Marika · Marika
Pronouncing Marika
MAR-ee-kah
Three syllables with the stress firmly on the first, as Hungarian always stresses the first syllable. English speakers often shift it to the middle, which is the main thing that will need correcting.
Nicknames for Marika
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
- 1946
- Most girls named
- 199289 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1590reached in 1993
- Change vs 2022
- −25.0%6 in 2024, from 8
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.
Marika in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marika in Hungarian — same name
- Marika in Finnish — same name
- Marika in Greek — same name
- Marika in Latvian — same name
Marikas among us
people named Marika 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
Marika 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 a real name in several living languages rather than a coinage.
- It carries Mary inside it while sounding nothing like it.
- Every sound in it is easy for an English mouth despite the foreign look.
- English speakers will put the stress in the wrong place by default.
- Marica, Marijka and Mareika all exist and the spelling will be queried.
- It reads as clearly foreign in an American classroom, which cuts both ways.
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What they receive
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Marika
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Marikas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Marika are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marika in 2025?
- Marika is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Marika with classmates?
- Marika 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 Marika? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Marika and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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