Born on August 15, 1815, in the Wallachian capital of Bucharest, the future Princess was commonly known by the hypocorisms "Marițica" and "Marița". Maria belonged to the Văcărescu family, and thus to the urban boyardom of Wallachia; she was the eldest of several daughters born to "Vornic" Nicolae Văcărescu and his wife, Alexandra "Luxița" Băleanu. The Văcărescu family legend linked them to the mythical Radu Negru, and also to the Romanian nobility in Transylvania. They portrayed themselves as owners of Făgăraș Citadel, which came to be depicted on their coat of arms—however, this connection remains historically unattested "(see Boyar of Fogaras)". Their boyar lineage was more likely named after Văcărești in Dâmbovița County, and can only be attested back to the 1570s. During that period and into the 1800s, Wallachia and Moldavia (as the Danubian Principalities) were vassal states of the Ottoman Empire. One of Marițica's ancestors, Negoiță Văcărescu, a Wallachian envoy and hostage to the Sublime Porte, was boiled to death in 1668. Her great-great-grandfather Ianache Văcărescu served under Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu during the Pruth River Campaign, and was executed alongside him by the Ottomans.