Originally a Middle English Anglicized form of French Marie,
from Latin Maria. This is a New Testament form of Miriam, which
St Jerome derives from elements meaning ‘drop of the sea’ (Latin
stilla maris, later altered by folk etymology to stella maris
‘star of the sea’). Mary was the name of the Virgin Mary, mother
of Jesus Christ, who has been the subject of a cult from
earliest times. Consequently, the name was extremely common
among early Christians, several saints among them, and by the
Middle Ages was well established in every country in Europe at
every level of society. It has been in use ever since, its
popularity in England having been relatively undisturbed by
vagaries of fashion until the 1960s, when it began to decline
sharply. In the New Testament, Mary is also the name of several
other women: Mary Magdalene (see Madeleine); Mary the sister of
Martha, who sat at Jesus's feet while Martha served (Luke
10:38–42; John 11:1–46; 12:1–9) and who came to be taken in
Christian tradition as symbolizing the