Gender: Feminine
Origin: Spanish/Portuguese
Meaning: “mercies”
mer-THE-dhes (Spanish), mer-SE-dhes (Latin American Spanish); mer-SAY-deez (English)
The name is derived from the Spanish word, mercedes, (mercies), and was originally used in honour of the Virgin Mary, María de las Mercedes, (Mary, Full of Grace or Our Lady of Mercies).
The name was popularized outside of the Spanish speaking world via the car make, Mercedes-Benz, which was named in honour of the Austrian creator’s daughter, Mercedes Jellinek (1889-1928). Mercedes was not her true given name, it was given to her as a nickname since childhood and her real name was Adriana Manuela Ramona.
Currently, Mercedes is the 666th most popular female name in the United States, (2010). Its magyarized form of Mercédesz is the 98th most popular female name in Hungary, (2009).
Other forms of the name include:
Eskarne (Basque)
Mercè (Catalan)
Mèrsed (Creole)
Mercédès (French)
Mercede (Italian)
Merceda (Polish: obscure)
Mercédesz (Hungarian)
Sources
LOVE the picture – I had no idea that wasn’t her given name! It really is lovely, though it can come across as materialistic or overtly religious. Still, I’d love to hear the name used more.
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