What the Name Marianna Means

The town of Marianna, Pennsylvania, was founded in the early 1900s as a coal-mining town connected to the Pittsburgh Buffalo Company. The company was owned and operated by members of the Jones family, not a single individual. When the town was named, it was done in honor of Mary Ann Feehan Jones, the wife of David G. Jones, who served as an officer of the company.

That explains where the town’s name came from. But the word Marianna itself carries a meaning that goes beyond one person, one family, or one company.

The name Marianna comes from older forms of the names Mary and Anna, which were widely used across Europe and early America. Over time, the names blended together. The meaning of Marianna is layered, not simple.

At its core, the name is connected to care, grace, and belonging. At the same time, it also carries older meanings linked to sorrow, hardship, and endurance. It is a name that holds both comfort and struggle. It does not suggest ease or power. It suggests persistence.

That combination reflects real life. Life is rarely smooth or simple. It includes responsibility, work, loss, and hope, often at the same time. The name Marianna reflects that balance. It recognizes that people and places are shaped not only by love and care, but also by what they endure.

When a town carries this name, it carries that meaning as well. Communities are built through labor, conflict, cooperation, and survival. They hold memory. They change, but they also endure. The name Marianna quietly reflects that reality.

So while Marianna, Pennsylvania, was named in honor of Mary Ann Feehan Jones, the word itself points to something larger. It speaks to endurance, responsibility, and living through change. In that way, Marianna is not just a name from the past. It is a name that still fits the present.