It's a Catholic tradition.In Catholic countries women often received Maria/Marie as a first name in honour of the Virgin
Mary, or otherwise Maria/Marie would be added to every child's name regardless of gender.
I've found a few examples of man named "
Maria Something", but by convention the first name tends to define the sex of the person in a clear way. For this reason women sometimes receive a male name as well as their second name. To use a contemporary example, "
Maria José" is a woman, but "
José Maria" is male.