Mariana

Mariana begins in Latin, as the feminine form of Marius, an old Roman family name. In Latin the adjective marianus, and its feminine mariana, meant belonging to Marius, a sense later tied to the general Gaius Marius and his reforms of the Roman army. To carry the name was to be counted należąca do rodu Mariuszów, one of the Marius clan.

In Spanish-speaking countries Mariana turned warm and everyday, given to daughters across Spain and Latin America. Poland kept a spelling closer to the Latin and set the variant Marianna beside it in the same class register. On an official form at the urząd, the two spellings name two different people.

There is also Marian, the cross-gender form used by men. Same Latin root, different ending.

So the meaning stays literal and old: feminine form of Marius, należąca do rodu Mariuszów.