Mariel

Mariel is a feminine given name used in Spanish-speaking communities and elsewhere. It is commonly treated as a variant of Maria or as a compound formed from Maria with the suffix -el.

Geographically, Mariel is a town and municipality in Artemisa Province, Cuba, located on the island’s northwestern coast about 50 kilometers west of Havana. The nearby Port of Mariel is a deep-water facility that, since 2012, has been the focus of Cuba’s development efforts through the Mariel Special Development Zone, aimed at attracting foreign investment and fostering economic activity.

In historical terms, Mariel gained international prominence as the embarkation point for the 1980 Mariel boatlift, a mass emigration event in which an estimated 125,000 Cubans left for the United States. The exodus had significant social and political repercussions and influenced immigration policy and media coverage at the time.

Notable people with the name include Mariel Hemingway, an American actress born in 1961 and a member of the Hemingway literary family. Her career spans film and television, and she is among the more widely recognized contemporary bearers of the name.