Maria

Most names pick a lane. Maria, delightfully, offers you a choice of two meanings that could hardly be further apart: bitter or beloved. It's a bit like being handed a square of dark chocolate and a love letter at the same time and told you may only open one.

Most parents, unsurprisingly, lean towards beloved. But there is something rather wonderful about a name that admits life contains both, and still manages to sound this lovely.

Top of the class in Brazil

Maria comes from Spanish, and it carries itself with the ease of a name that has never once worried about being forgotten. In Brazil it was the number one girls' name in 2022. Not top ten, not top five: the very top. Mexico City isn't far off, with Maria at number 2 in 2023.

It sits at number 10 in Catalonia and 18 in Argentina. Then come France at 65, Canada at 72, England & Wales at 91 and the United States at 109. That makes it warmly familiar almost everywhere, while still leaving room for it to feel a touch special in an English-speaking classroom.

Mari, Mariquita and the art of the pet name

Maria is generous with its nicknames. Mari is light and quick, perfect for calling across a park. Mariquita is far more playful, a long, bouncy, sing-song option that seems tailor-made for a toddler who is refusing, point blank, to put her shoes on.

The joy of a name like this is that it grows with the child. Maria is grown-up and graceful, Mari is the friend who always has a plan, and Mariquita is saved for those moments when only something ridiculously affectionate will do.

Building the family around her

If Maria is on your list, the sibling names that tend to keep it company are Jose, Manuel, Sofia and Alejandro. Say them all together and you have the makings of a very lively dinner table, with at least two conversations happening at once and somebody laughing far too loudly at the end of the table.

• Sofia for a sister with the same soft, flowing sound
• Manuel or Jose for a brother with classic warmth
• Alejandro if you fancy a bit of extra drama in the line-up

What makes Maria so enduring is that it never feels like a trend. It isn't trying to be new or clever. It simply is, and it has been loved widely enough that it has absolutely nothing to prove.

Of course, deciding on a name is rarely that serene. There will be lists, vetoes, spreadsheet tabs and at least one relative who insists you go with their favourite instead. But if you keep returning to Maria, beloved by half the world and bitter about absolutely none of it, perhaps that's your answer. Probably. Maybe. Ask again tomorrow.