Maura
- Pronunciation
- [Mau-ra]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Bitter
- Origin
- Irish
About the Name Maura
Maura is an Irish name traditionally treated as a form of Mary and often glossed as "bitter," reflecting one classic interpretation of Mary's Hebrew root. It has long been a favorite in Ireland as a soft, dignified alternative to Mary, and it also shares ground with the Latin maurus, "dark," giving the name a gentle dual heritage that blends Gaelic warmth with Latin roots. The result is a name that feels both unmistakably Irish and quietly classical.
In the United States it held a modest, steady place around the turn of the millennium. Maura first entered the US Social Security top-1000 in 2000, peaked in 2001 at #674, and left the rankings after 2006, where it sat at #917 following ranks of #816 and #738 in the years just before — the kind of quietly classic name that attracts a loyal following without ever chasing the top tier, gradually slipping out of the rankings as tastes turned toward more elaborate forms.
Pronounced Mau-ra, the name has a warm two-syllable simplicity and an unfussy Irish charm, with the easy nickname Mo or Maurie coming naturally. Its recorded variant is Moira, the closely related Gaelic form that shares its roots and its soft, rounded sound while offering a slightly different look. For parents who want an authentically Irish name that is gentle, grounded, and free of fuss, Maura remains a timeless choice.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Maura
US Popularity History (2000–2006)
Annual US births named Maura by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2001 with 372 girls named Maura (girl rank #674 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2006, ranked #917 for girls (289 US births). That's 243 places below its 2001 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moira | Merit | Female | Greek |
Looking for names like Maura?
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Compare Maura to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Maura against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).