who was the colony of maryland named after
History of Maryland Officially the colony is said to be named in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I.[19] Some Catholic scholars believe that George Calvert named the province after Mary, the mother of Jesus.[20] The name in the charter was phrased Terra Mariae, anglice, Maryland. The English name was preferred due to the undesired associations of Mariae with the Spanish Jesuit Juan de Mariana, linked to the Inquisition.[21]