Marija is a feminine given name, a variation of the name Maria, which was in turn a Latin form of the Greek names Μαριαμ, or Mariam, and Μαρια, or Maria, found in the New Testament. Depending on phonological rules concerning consecutive vowels or the use of the

palatal approximant The voiced palatal approximant is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ; the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic notation i ...

, "Mary" in these languages is ''Marija'' if consecutive

vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

s are disallowed and otherwise ''Maria''. Marija is the most common female name in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The name Marija was the most common feminine given name until 1969. The male equivalents are Marijan,

Marijo Marijo is a South Slavic masculine given name, cognate to Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring ch ...

and

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

. Notable people with the name include: *

Marija Bankauskaitė Marija Bankauskaitė (19 April 1933 – 7 January 1992 Vilnius) was a Lithuanian ceramics artist. Biography In 1955–1961, she studied at the Lithuanian Institute of Art. In 1961–1965, she taught at the Tent, and in 1965–1968, at the Kauna ...

, Lithuanian ceramics artist * Marija Bursać, Bosnian Serb Yugoslav resistance fighter *

Marija Čolić Marija Colic (born 12 April 1990) is a Serbian handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a g ...

, Serbian handball player *

Marija Ćirović Marija Ćirović is a Montenegrin model and beauty pageant titleholder who represented Montenegro at Miss World 2007 in Sanya, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of Ch ...

, Montenegrin model *

Marija Dūdienė Marija Dūdienė (13 March 1927–14 October 2012) was a Lithuanian painter.''Marija Dūdienė''. Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia, T. V (Dis-Fatva). (in Lithuanian) V.: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 2004. See also *List of Li ...

, Lithuanian painter *

Marija Gimbutas Marija Gimbutas (, ; January 23, 1921 – February 2, 1994) was a Lithuanian archaeology, archaeologist and anthropologist known for her research into the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of "Old European Culture, Old Europe" and for her Kurgan ...

, Lithuanian-American archaeologist *

Marija Gluvakov Marija Gluvakov – Medenica (Serbian Cyrillic: Марија Глуваков – Меденица) (born 3 April 1973), is a Serbian pianist and piano teacher. Education Gluvakov was born in Senta, Serbia, formerly Yugoslavia. She received her ...

, Serbian pianist *

Marija Jovanović Marija Jovanović (born 26 December 1985) is a retired Montenegrin handball player. She played for the Montenegrin national team. She competed at the 2010 European Women's Handball Championship, where the Montenegrin team placed sixth, and J ...

, Montenegrin handball player *

Marija Jurić Zagorka Marija Jurić (; 2 March 1873 – 30 November 1957), known by her pen name Zagorka (), was a Croatians, Croatian journalist, writer and women's rights activist. She was the first female journalist in Croatia and is among the most read Croatian wr ...

, Croatian writer *

Marija Karan Marija Karan ( sr-Cyrl, Марија Каран; born 29 April 1982) is a Serbian actress. She had her film debut in '' Kad porastem biću Kengur'' and appeared after this in '' Jesen stiže, dunjo moja''. Life Karan was born in Belgrade. In 2007 ...

, Serbian actress *

Marija Kessler Marija Kessler (April 24, 1860 – May 1, 1939), was a Slovene socialite. Her salon was the cultural center of artist life in Ljubljana in the late 19th century, and was regarded as the most notable example of a salon in Slovenia Slovenia, ...

, Slovenian salonist *

Marija Kavtaradzė Marija Kavtaradzė (born 3 June 1991) is a Lithuanian film director and screenwriter. Biography Marija Kavtaradzė studied filmmaking at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre from 2010 to 2014. During this period, she directed five short ...

(born 1991), Lithuanian film director and screenwriter * Marija Laništanin, Serbian handball player * Marija Lastauskienė, Lithuanian writer * Marija Leiko, Latvian actress *

Marija Lucija Stupica Marija Lucija Stupica (13 December 1950 – 28 May 2002) was a Slovene children's book illustrator. Stupica was born in Ljubljana in 1950. She was the daughter of the acclaimed Slovene illustrator Marlenka Stupica and famous painter Gabrijel S ...

, Slovenian writer * Marija Lugarić, Croatian politician * Marija Makarovič, Slovene ethnologist *

Marija Mačiulienė Marija Mačiulienė (born 1929 in Kaunas) is a Lithuanian painter. His 1962 mosaic is featured at the entrance to Druskininkai's Sveikatingumo Park. See also *List of Lithuanian painters References Sveikatingumo Parkas In Your Pocket City Gu ...

, Lithuanian painter *

Marija Mirković Marija Mirkovic (; born 23 February 1990) is a former professional Australian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 276, which she reached on 6 July 2009. Her career-high in doubles was at 221 on 22 November 2010. ITF Circuit fina ...

, Serbian-Australian tennis player * Marija Naumova, Latvian singer * Marija Nikolova, Macedonian singer * Marija Obrenović, Moldavian and Romanian aristocrat * Marija Omaljev-Grbić, Croatian actress * Marija Pečkauskaitė, Lithuanian writer under the pen name Šatrijos Ragana *

Marija Petković Marija Petković, also known as The Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified Petković; (, ), (10 December 1892 - 9 July 1966) was the founder of the Catholic Congregation of the Daughters of Mercy. She was recognized by the Catholic Church as Venerable o ...

, Croatian nun *

Marija Razgutė Marija Razgutė (born 26 June 1985) is a Lithuanian film producer and the founder of the production company M-Films. Biography Marija Razgutė was born on 26 June 1985 in Klaipėda, Lithuania. She initially studied business management but l ...

(born 1985), Lithuanian film producer * Marija Selak Raspudić, Croatian philosopher, bioethicist and politician *

Marija Šerifović Marija Šerifović ( sr-cyr, Марија Шерифовић, ; born 14 November 1984) is a Serbian singer. Born in Kragujevac, she is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland with "Molitva", becoming Serbia's ...

, Serbian singer * Marija Šestak, Slovenian triple jumper *

Marija Šestić Marija Šestić ( sr-cyr, Марија Шестић; born 5 May 1987) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb singer and musician. She is most known for representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest, Bosnia and Her ...

, Bosnian Serb singer *

Marija Škaričić Marija Škaričić (born 6 August 1977) is a Croats, Croatian actress. Biography Marija Škaričić was born on August 6, 1977, in Split, Croatia, Split. She ended Primary and Secondary school in Split. As a high school student, she attended ...

, Croatian actress * Marija Trmčić, Serbian skier * Marija Ugrica, Serbian singer * Marija Ujević-Galetović, Croatian sculptor * Marija Vojskovič, Slovene writer * Marija Vujović, Montenegrin model * Marija Vuković, Montenegrin athlete * Marija Vukčević, Montenegrin football player * Princess Marija of Yugoslavia, the only child of Prince Nikolas of Yugoslavia and Ljiljana Licanin * Marija Zerova (1902–1994), Ukrainian mycologist

References

{{given name Given names Slovene feminine given names Croatian feminine given names Feminine given names Serbian feminine given names Lithuanian feminine given names Latvian feminine given names