Maniyah
A feminine name derived from the Arabic word "mani" meaning wish or desire.
Name Census estimates that about 683 living Americans carry the first name Maniyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maniyah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maniyah births was 2009 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maniyah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
683
~ 1 in 501,837 Americans
Peak year
2009
49 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,736
Tracked since 1998
Popularity
Maniyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maniyah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 352 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maniyah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Maniyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maniyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Pennsylvania, New York, California recorded the most babies named Maniyah, while Virginia, Texas, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maniyah
The name Maniyah has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "mani," which means "wish" or "desire." The name is believed to have emerged in the Middle East during the medieval period, around the 7th to 13th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Maniyah can be found in a collection of Arabic poetry from the 9th century. The poet Al-Mutanabbi, who lived from 915 to 965 AD, mentioned a woman named Maniyah in one of his famous works, praising her beauty and grace.
In the 11th century, a renowned Islamic scholar and historian, Ibn Al-Athir, documented the life of a woman named Maniyah who lived in Baghdad. She was known for her wisdom and her contributions to the intellectual circles of the time.
The name Maniyah gained popularity among Arab communities and gradually spread to other regions influenced by Islamic culture. One notable figure who bore this name was Maniyah Al-Andalusiya, a celebrated poet and scholar from Andalusia (modern-day Spain) who lived during the 12th century.
Another historical figure with the name Maniyah was a Persian princess who lived in the 14th century. She was known for her beauty and her influence in the royal court of the Ilkhanid Dynasty.
In the 16th century, a prominent Ottoman calligrapher named Maniyah Banu was renowned for her exquisite calligraphic works, which adorned many mosques and palaces throughout the Ottoman Empire.
Throughout history, the name Maniyah has been associated with qualities such as grace, beauty, and intellectual prowess. It has been bestowed upon women from various cultural backgrounds, reflecting its enduring appeal across different regions and time periods.
People
Maniyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maniyah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Maniyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maniyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 683 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maniyah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 501,837 US residents.
Is Maniyah a common name?
We classify Maniyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 691 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maniyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Maniyah was 2009, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maniyah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Maniyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maniyah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.