Mariah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved lady".
Name Census estimates that about 110,502 living Americans carry the first name Mariah. It sits at #413 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mariah today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mariah births was 1996 (5,454 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mariah. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Mariah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Mariah is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 183 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
111K
~ 1 in 3,102 Americans
Peak year
1996
5,454 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2014 SSA rank
#413
Tracked since 1880
Census
Mariah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 90,629 people with the first name Mariah, which placed it at #587 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#587
National first-name rank
People counted
91K
90,629 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
30.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mariah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mariah is White at 40.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.4%) and Black (23.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mariah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mariah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.1% · 36,351
- Hispanic or Latino25.4% · 23,005
- Black or African American23.2% · 21,006
- Two or more races8.6% · 7,794
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 1,489
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 984
Gender
Gender distribution for Mariah
Out of the 114,563 babies given the name Mariah since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Mariah as a male name
- Ranked #9,322 in 2014
- 8 male births in 2014
- Peak: 1992 (15 births)
Mariah as a female name
- Ranked #413 in 2024
- 756 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (5,446 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mariah appears almost entirely female. Of the 90,630 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Mariah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mariah from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 44,684 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mariah 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 Mariah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mariahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Mariah, while Vermont, Delaware, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,184 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mariah
The name Mariah has its roots in the ancient Hebrew language, originating from the word "mar'ah," which translates to "bitter" or "beloved." It is believed to have gained prominence during the biblical era, circa 1000 BC, in the Middle East region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mariah is found in the Old Testament of the Bible. The prophet Zechariah mentions a woman named Mariah in the Book of Zechariah, which dates back to around 520 BC. This biblical reference lends historical credence to the name's antiquity.
During the Middle Ages, the name Mariah gained traction across various European regions, particularly in England and France. It was often associated with religious devotion and purity, as many young girls were named Mariah in honor of the Virgin Mary.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Mariah was Mariah Falcon (1492-1558), a renowned Italian painter and engraver from the Renaissance era. Her works, which included religious art and portraiture, are celebrated for their intricate details and representation of the human form.
Fast forward to the 18th century, and we encounter Mariah Edgeworth (1767-1849), an Anglo-Irish novelist and writer. She is best known for her novels Castle Rackrent and Belinda, which explored societal themes and provided insightful commentary on the era's cultural dynamics.
Moving into the 19th century, Mariah Carey (1870-1925) was an American suffragist and activist who fought tirelessly for women's rights, particularly the right to vote. Her influential work contributed significantly to the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women's suffrage in the United States.
Another historical figure bearing the name Mariah is Mariah Williamson (1832-1919), a British explorer and writer. She embarked on numerous expeditions to Africa and the Middle East, documenting her travels in captivating memoirs that offered unique insights into the cultures and landscapes she encountered.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have carried the name Mariah throughout history, each leaving an indelible mark on their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of this name's legacy.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Mariah
People
Mariah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mariah 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
Mariah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mariah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 110,502 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mariah 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 3,102 US residents.
Is Mariah a common name?
We classify Mariah as "Common". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 114,563 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mariah most popular?
The single biggest year for Mariah was 1996, when 5,454 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mariah is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mariah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 90,629 people with the name Mariah, or 30.01 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #587 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mariah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mariah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mariah appears almost entirely female. Of the 90,630 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mariah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mariah is White at 40.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.4%) and Black (23.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mariah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mariah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.1% (36,351 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mariah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mariah a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Mariah 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.
Is Mariah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mariah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mariah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Mariah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.