Many Spanish given names honor the Virgin Mary. Girls are frequently given the name Maria or Maria followed by a suffix name and boys are sometimes given the name Maria as a middle name. Girls with Marian composite names may use the suffix portion of their name as their main informal name.
Cooper's father and Vanderbilt's husband Wyatt Emory Cooper, who Vanderbilt still believes is the love of her life, died at a young age and Vanderbilt never married again. Anderson was only ten years old when his father died suddenly of heart failure.
He is married to Ali (Alison), a passenger who fell ill on one of Contiki's first tours. They have four children. Anderson's parents divorced when he was five years old; he was raised primarily by his mother although maintained a good relationship with his father, a dentist who emigrated to England when he was a child.