Marijah
A Hebrew feminine name meaning "bitterness" or "rebellion against God".
Name Census estimates that about 102 living Americans carry the first name Marijah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marijah today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marijah births was 2011 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marijah. 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
102
~ 1 in 3,360,337 Americans
Peak year
2011
12 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2012 SSA rank
#16,182
Tracked since 1996
Census
Marijah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 121 people with the first name Marijah, which placed it at #50,149 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
#50,149
National first-name rank
People counted
121
121 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marijah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marijah is Black at 48.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Hispanic (14.0%). 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 Marijah 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 Marijah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.8% · 59
- White26.4% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino14.0% · 17
- Two or more races10.7% · 13
Popularity
Marijah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marijah from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 62 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Marijah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marijah 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 Marijah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marijah
Marijah is a female given name of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "marj" meaning "meadow" or "pasture." The name is believed to have emerged during the early Islamic era, around the 7th century CE, in regions where Arabic culture and language flourished.
The earliest recorded use of the name Marijah can be traced back to ancient Arabic poetry and literature, where it was often used as a symbolic reference to beauty and fertility. The name held significant cultural significance, reflecting the importance of nature and agricultural traditions in the region.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Marijah was a 9th-century Arab poet and scholar from Baghdad, known for her contributions to the literary and intellectual circles of the Abbasid era. Her full name was Marijah al-Isfahani, and she is celebrated for her poetry and her expertise in various fields, including grammar and rhetoric.
In the 12th century, another prominent figure named Marijah emerged in Islamic history. Marijah al-Qurashiya was a renowned scholar and jurist from Cordoba, Spain. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her teachings, which attracted students from across the region.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Marijah gained popularity among the elite and ruling classes. One notable figure was Marijah Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Mehmed IV, who lived in the late 17th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for various cultural and educational initiatives.
In more recent times, Marijah has been the name of several influential figures in the Arab world. Marijah al-Sadiq, born in 1936, was a celebrated Sudanese writer and activist who played a significant role in the country's literary and cultural movements.
Another notable Marijah was Marijah al-Fatimi, a Syrian activist and human rights defender who advocated for women's rights and democratic reforms in the country. She was born in 1958 and continued her activism until her passing in 2016.
While the name Marijah has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has also been embraced in various parts of the world, particularly among Muslim communities. The name's association with beauty, nature, and intellectual pursuits has made it a popular choice for parents seeking meaningful and culturally significant names for their daughters.
People
Marijah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marijah 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
Marijah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marijah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marijah 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 3,360,337 US residents.
Is Marijah a common name?
We classify Marijah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 104 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marijah most popular?
The single biggest year for Marijah was 2011, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marijah is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marijah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 121 people with the name Marijah, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,149 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 Marijah 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 Marijah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marijah appears almost entirely female. Of the 122 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Marijah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marijah is Black at 48.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Hispanic (14.0%). 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 Marijah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marijah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.8% (59 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 Marijah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marijah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marijah 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 Marijah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marijah 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 Marijah 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 are called Marijah?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.