Mariadelaluz
A Spanish feminine name meaning "Mary of the Light".
Name Census estimates that about 140 living Americans carry the first name Mariadelaluz. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mariadelaluz today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mariadelaluz births was 1999 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mariadelaluz. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
140
~ 1 in 2,448,245 Americans
Peak year
1999
11 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2014 SSA rank
#18,244
Tracked since 1981
Census
Mariadelaluz in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,260 people with the first name Mariadelaluz, which placed it at #6,928 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,928
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,260 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
99.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mariadelaluz
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mariadelaluz is Hispanic at 99.4%. The next largest groups are White (0.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mariadelaluz described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mariadelaluz at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino99.4% · 2,247
- White0.3% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 4
- Black or African American0.1% · 2
Popularity
Mariadelaluz: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mariadelaluz from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 60 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mariadelaluz by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mariadelaluz during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mariadelaluz' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mariadelaluz
Mariadelaluz is a Spanish given name that originated in the late 15th century during the Spanish Reconquista and the spread of Christianity in the Iberian Peninsula. The name is a combination of two distinct components: "Maria" and "dela luz" (meaning "of the light" in Spanish).
The first part, "Maria," is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miriam, which means "beloved" or "wished-for child." It was the name of the biblical Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and gained immense popularity as a Christian name throughout Europe and the Americas.
The second part, "dela luz," reflects the symbolic significance of light in Christian theology, representing divine illumination, truth, and spiritual enlightenment. This addition to the name Maria was likely influenced by the religious fervor and devotion to the Virgin Mary during the Catholic Reconquista period in Spain.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mariadelaluz can be traced back to a 16th-century Spanish nun and mystic, Sor María de la Luz, who lived in the convent of San José in Cuerva, Toledo. She was known for her spiritual visions and writings, which emphasized the importance of divine light and grace.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mariadelaluz, including:
1. María de la Luz Caballero (1795-1862), a Cuban educator and philosopher who founded the first secular school in Cuba and advocated for educational reforms.
2. María de la Luz Duarte (1898-1983), a renowned Mexican poet and journalist, often referred to as "La Luz de la Raza" (The Light of the Race).
3. María de la Luz Valverde (1937-2020), a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career.
4. María de la Luz Bermúdez (1963-2022), a Colombian human rights activist and lawyer who dedicated her life to defending the rights of indigenous communities and victims of armed conflict.
5. María de la Luz Vega (born 1955), a Mexican politician and activist who has served as a member of the Senate and has been a vocal advocate for women's rights and environmental protection.
The name Mariadelaluz carries a rich historical and cultural significance, blending the reverence for the Virgin Mary with the symbolism of divine light and spiritual enlightenment. Its enduring popularity across Spanish-speaking regions reflects the deep-rooted religious and cultural traditions of these areas.
People
Mariadelaluz + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mariadelaluz as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mariadelaluz: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mariadelaluz?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 140 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mariadelaluz going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,448,245 US residents.
Is Mariadelaluz a common name?
We classify Mariadelaluz as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mariadelaluz most popular?
The single biggest year for Mariadelaluz was 1999, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mariadelaluz is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mariadelaluz in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,260 people with the name Mariadelaluz, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,928 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mariadelaluz in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mariadelaluz?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mariadelaluz appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,259 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mariadelaluz?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mariadelaluz is Hispanic at 99.4%. The next largest groups are White (0.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mariadelaluz most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mariadelaluz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.4% (2,247 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mariadelaluz in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mariadelaluz a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mariadelaluz in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mariadelaluz still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mariadelaluz in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mariadelaluz can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Mariadelaluz?
See how many Americans are named Mariadelaluz on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.