Frequency in Croatian population: 11.617 (4th Most Frequent)

Marić family name is originated from a Christian first name Maro (male) or Mara (female), with the addition of a suffix “ić” with the meaning “descendant of Maro/Mara”.

Those who bear Marić family name is almost always of a Croatian ethnicity, mostly from Eastern Herzegovina or from Croatian region of Podravina as well as from the city of Knin. Rarely, it can also be Serbian surname (near Croatian city of Daruvar) or Bosnian (Muslim) surname (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina).

Geography. Municipality of Stolac, Bosnia-Herzegovina, is the place where one of every ten residents bear this family name. In fifty years, number of bearers of Marić family name has more than doubled, from roughly 4500 in mid 20th century to today’s nearly 12.000.

(Sources: Petar Šimunović, Hrvatska prezimena, Golden Marketing-Tehnička knjiga, Zagreb, 2006; Enciklopedija hrvatskih prezimena, Nacionalni rodoslovni centar, 2008)