Who Is Mary Jane? The Name Behind the Nickname

Plenty of nicknames come and go. Mary Jane has been on the record since 1928, by one dictionary's count¹. That is impressive for someone who may never have existed. Here is what the record shows, and where it runs out.

1 · So why do people call it Mary Jane?

Mary Jane is the English form of Maria Juana, a pairing of the Spanish names Maria and Juana^{1, 2}. The Online Etymology Dictionary says the English word marijuana was altered under the influence of that name¹. The same dictionary dates Mary Jane as slang for cannabis to 1928¹. That is the date the dictionary gives. It is not proof that 1928 was the first time anyone said it.

2 · Where does the word marijuana come from?

Nobody knows for sure. The Online Etymology Dictionary says the Mexican Spanish word marihuana is "of uncertain origin"¹. A 2005 paper in Sino-Platonic Papers, published through the University of Pennsylvania, goes further and calls its origins "deeply obscure"².

The paper's trail starts in 1894. It says the earliest look-alike term on record is mariguan, in a Scribner's Magazine article by John G. Bourke². Even that comes with a caveat: the paper says mariguan only possibly refers to cannabis². The English spelling marijuana shows up later. The Online Etymology Dictionary dates it to 1918¹.

So where did marihuana come from before that? The paper lists several candidates, and none of them has settled the question²:

• The Spanish word mejorana, which means marjoram²
• The Chinese term ma (ren) hua²
• A word borrowed from a native South American language²

One idea gets a skeptical look: that the word came from a language native to Mexico. The Online Etymology Dictionary points out that the cannabis plant is not native to Mexico, so a native source for the word seems unlikely¹. For now, every theory is a candidate, not an answer.

3 · Was Mary Jane a real person?

Not one our sources can point to. Neither the dictionary nor the paper names a real person behind the nickname^{1, 2}. The paper's view is that marihuana is a borrowed word whose shape was influenced by the smooth-sounding pairing of Maria and Juana². Influenced is the key word. The paper does not say the word came from those names, only that they shaped how it sounds².

4 · Is it connected to the Mary Jane shoe?

Nobody has shown a connection. The Online Etymology Dictionary dates Mary Jane as the name of a low-heeled shoe to 1921¹. It dates Mary Jane as cannabis slang to 1928¹. That is the same name, seven years apart¹. None of our sources draws a line between the two¹. Two things sharing a name is not evidence that one borrowed from the other.

5 · Why does cannabis have so many nicknames?

Partly for secrecy, according to the paper. Its author suggests the long list of cannabis nicknames comes partly from the need to talk quietly about a banned or controversial substance². That is one author's explanation for nicknames in general. It is not a finding about where Mary Jane in particular came from².

6 · What do we know, and what is still guesswork?

You may also run into stories that pin the nickname on a 1930s music scene or on one particular official. We found no dated evidence for those. Treat them as stories until someone produces a dated source.

Now you can explain the name in two sentences, friend, and you know which part is still a mystery. If you are new and curious about the herb itself, Start low, go slow is the natural next stop. Curious about edibles? Why every recipe wears its dose explains the mg number you will see on recipes over in Cook. And where the Guide gets its listings shows how the Guide's licensed venue listings are sourced.