Martha

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Maria in BR Brazil, ES Spain, AR Argentina and 13 more, Mary in US United States, GB United Kingdom, PH Philippines and 3 more, Мария in RU Russia, BG Bulgaria and Marie in FR France.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 19 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Martha is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name4.1M records spelled Martha31 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Mexico, United States, Argentina, Peru

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Märthä, Marthá, Märtha, 'Martha, Märthâ

• a separate given name259K records spelled Martha3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India

  Also written Märtha, Mártha

• Hindi given name54K records spelled Martha11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, South Africa, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala

  Also written মার্থা, মারথা, Maartha, Marutha

• Indonesian given name37K records spelled Martha4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Peru, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Martha, Martha'

• Finnish given name17K records spelled Martha6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Hungary, Peru

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Märtha, Marthä

• Lao given name5.4K records spelled Martha5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, United States, United Kingdom, Peru

  Also written Märtha, Marthä, Mãrthä, Mártha

79 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Martha is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• The name Martha has a timeless, classic feel, associated with strength, hospitality, and devotion. A person named Martha is often seen as practical, caring, and a pillar of her community, embodying a faith that is expressed through dedicated action and service to others.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In Irish, Possibly a feminine of Aramaic mar ‘lord’; used to anglicise More.

  as a name·Irish first names

• metronymic from the female personal name, which appears in the New Testament as Martha (Aramaic Marta ‘lady’) (see Marta).

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, A female given name from Aramaic of biblical origin.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, from Aramaic mārṯā 'lady, mistress'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Martha Washingtonb. 1731USFirst Lady of the United States from 1789 to 1797
• Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvénb. 1867DKnot in their usual nameDanish painter (1867-1940)
• Martha Grahamb. 1894USAmerican dancer and choreographer (1894–1991)
• Martha Gellhornb. 1908USjournalist from the United States (1908–1998)
• Martha Scottb. 1912USAmerican actress (1912–2003)
• Martha Hyerb. 1924USactress (1924-2014)
• Martha Stewartb. 1941USAmerican businesswoman, writer, TV personality (born 1941)
• Martha Argerichb. 1941ARArgentine pianist (1941-)
• Martha Plimptonb. 1970USAmerican actress
• Martha Higaredab. 1983MXMexican actress, writer, producer (b. 1983)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,644 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Martha?

We estimate roughly 21 million people bear Martha (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Martha have the most bearers?

Martha is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled maria.

How common is Martha compared with other names?

In Argentina, Martha is the most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Martha a male or female name?

Martha is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Martha mean?

Recorded meaning: The name Martha is a Latin transliteration of the Greek Μάρθα (Mártha), which itself comes from the Aramaic name מָרְתָא (Mārtā), meaning "the lady" or "the mistress".