Martha
Feminine · “lady”
Martha is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 551,741 girls against 1,991 boys since 1880. See Martha as a boy name
In the south of France they will tell you this name belongs to the woman who tamed a dragon. Medieval legend has her arriving by boat after the crucifixion, finding a monster eating travelers at a river crossing, and subduing it with holy water and her belt rather than a weapon — and a town on the Rhône is named after the creature to this day.
How old is the name Martha?
Martha was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Martha alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 241,000 people named Martha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Martha most popular?
Martha peaked in 1882, reaching #14 nationally. Today it ranks #712, 698 places below that high. See the whole 1882 chart.
Where it comes from
From marta to Martha
The story of Martha
The most famous bearer of the name in modern times was a bird. She was the last passenger pigeon alive, a species that had numbered in the billions and darkened the sky over North America for days at a time within living memory, and she died in Cincinnati Zoo in the autumn of nineteen fourteen. The keepers knew what she was and there was nothing to be done; her body was frozen into a block of ice and sent to the Smithsonian. It is one of the very few extinctions where the exact moment is known, because somebody was standing there watching.
Meaning
lady, mistress of the house
Aramaic, and the feminine of the ordinary word for a lord or master. It is one of very few New Testament names that is Aramaic rather than Hebrew or Greek, which suits the character it belongs to.
How the name formed
- marta
- Martha
Related forms: Marta · Marta · Martha · Marta
Pronouncing Martha
MAR-thuh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Most European languages drop the h entirely and say MAR-tah, which English does not.
Nicknames for Martha
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 194810,011 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #14reached in 1882
- Change vs 2022
- −3.0%393 in 2025, from 405
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.
Martha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marta in Spanish — same name
- Marta in Italian — same name
- Martha in German — same name
- Marta in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Pennsylvania, California.
Marthas among us
people named Martha are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,090 born in 2025 was named Martha
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Martha has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Martha is headed
Martha should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Martha beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Martha in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is recognized across Europe with almost no change of spelling.
- The meaning is dignified and easy to explain without etymology.
- It has stayed in continuous use for the whole length of the record.
- Its peak was very early and the name carries that age for some ears.
- The biblical character is proverbially the busy one, which colors the name.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
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What they receive
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Martha
Feminine · #712 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Marthas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 241,000 people named Martha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Martha in 2025?
- Martha ranks #712 among US girl names in 2025, with 393 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Martha?
- About 1 in every 4,090 US girls born in 2025 was named Martha — 393 in all.
- Will my child share the name Martha with classmates?
- Martha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Martha
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Mckinley#712 · Ryan#712 · Leslie#712 · Analia#711 · Jazmin#710 · Lennox#716 · Dayana#716 · Kennedi#707
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Martha? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Martha and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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