Martha (given name)

Martha
Martha from the Isabella Breviary, 1497
GenderFemale
Origin
Word/nameGreek & Aramaic
Meaning"mistress"
Other names
Variant formsMarfa, Marta, Marthe
Related namesMarwa, Merve, Marva, Märta

Martha is a feminine given name (Latin from Ancient Greek Μάρθα (Mártha), from Aramaic מרתא (Mārtā) "the mistress" or "the lady", from מרה "mistress", feminine of מרי "master"). Patti, Patsy, and Patty were in use in Colonial America as English rhyming diminutives of the diminutive Mattie. Molly has been used as a diminutive of Martha since the 18th century.

Variants in different languages:

  • Maata (Māori)
  • Марфа (Marfa) (Russian and Belarusian), formerly spelled "Марѳа" from the Greek version of the name, that the Russians assimilate in F
  • Márta (Hungarian)
  • Marta, Martha (Indonesian)
  • Marta (Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Italian, Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish)
  • Марта (Marta) (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian)
  • Marthe (French, German, Dutch)
  • Martta (Finnish)
  • Moireach (Scottish Gaelic)
  • Morta (Lithuanian)