boy's name
Mario
MAR-ee-oh
- Origin Italian
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 3
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 172,928
the United States
#438
2025 births
Mario is a boy's name from a Roman family name of uncertain meaning, and the video game character was named after a real landlord — Mario Segale, who owned the warehouse Nintendo rented in Seattle.
- Mario is a name of Italian origin.
- Peaked in 1980, when 2,974 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,598 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1897.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Mario over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 7 |
| 1900s | 144 |
| 1910s | 2,512 |
| 1920s | 4,822 |
| 1930s | 3,234 |
| 1940s | 4,011 |
| 1950s | 10,549 |
| 1960s | 13,636 |
| 1970s | 21,249 |
| 1980s | 26,707 |
| 1990s | 24,710 |
| 2000s | 22,474 |
| 2010s | 13,188 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,160 |
What Mario means
Mario has no securely known meaning. The Roman family name Marius may connect to Mars or to an Etruscan word, and neither has been established.
Where Mario comes from
Mario is the Italian form of Marius, a Roman gens name whose derivation is genuinely open — Mars, the god of war, is the usual proposal, but an Etruscan source is equally possible, and Etruscan is only partly readable. Gaius Marius reorganized the Roman army into the professional legions that made the later empire possible. The name is not from Mary, despite the resemblance; Maria is a separate name of Hebrew origin. Nintendo's Mario was renamed from Jumpman after Mario Segale, the landlord of the company's American warehouse, who reportedly burst in to demand overdue rent.
Mario in use
Mario peaked in the United States in 1980, when 2,974 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 438th in the United States on 721 births, 856th in England and Wales on 37 and 998th in France on 35, across 172,928 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. Its American peak in 1980 sits just ahead of the 1981 arcade release that made the name globally recognizable.
How popular is Mario?
In 2025, Mario was given to 721 babies in the United States, ranking #438 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Mario is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Mario
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Mario also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Mario over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Mario in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Mario
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Mario — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Mario
What does the name Mario mean?
Not securely known. Mars and an Etruscan source are both proposed for the Roman name Marius.
Is Mario the male form of Maria?
No. Maria is Hebrew and Mario is a Roman family name — the resemblance is a coincidence.
Who was Nintendo's Mario named after?
Mario Segale, the landlord of the company's American warehouse.
How popular is Mario?
438th in the United States, down from a 1980 peak of 2,936 births.
Is Mario a girl's or a boy's name?
Mario is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Mario?
Mario has 3 syllables.
Is Mario a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Mario currently ranks #438 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.