Maureen

Maureen: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “star of the sea”
Origin: Irish
Say it: muh-REEN · 2 syllables
Used for: Girls

Anglicized form of the Irish Máirín, a diminutive of Máire, the Irish form of Mary. Its traditional meaning follows Mary's long-associated gloss 'star of the sea'.

Irish names English names Names meaning star Names meaning sea Classic names

How popular is Maureen?

20248.1 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Maureen in 202427

2024 rank#4,883 girls

Peak year1948

Total US babies since 1880144,573

Maureen is steady now but far below its 1948 peak.

Names like Maureen

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Maryuncertain, traditionally beloved or bitter · Hebrew
Mariameaning uncertain · Hebrew
Mollybitter · English
MaliaMary · Hawaiian
Mariahvariant of Mary; meaning uncertain · Hebrew
Mariebeloved; drop of the sea · French
Molliebitter · English
Maymonth of May · English

Maureen questions

What does the name Maureen mean?

Maureen means "star of the sea". It comes from Irish. Anglicized form of the Irish Máirín, a diminutive of Máire, the Irish form of Mary. Its traditional meaning follows Mary's long-associated gloss 'star of the sea'.

Is Maureen a boy or girl name?

Maureen is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Maureen?

27 US babies were named Maureen in 2024. Its peak year was 1948.

How do you pronounce Maureen?

Maureen is usually pronounced muh-REEN.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.