Mariyam
A feminine Arabic name derived from the Biblical name Miriam, meaning "beloved" or "wished-for child".
Name Census estimates that about 320 living Americans carry the first name Mariyam. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mariyam today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mariyam births was 2024 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mariyam. 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 Mariyam with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
320
~ 1 in 1,071,107 Americans
Peak year
2024
22 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,709
Tracked since 1988
Census
Mariyam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 577 people with the first name Mariyam, which placed it at #18,616 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
#18,616
National first-name rank
People counted
577
577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
57.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mariyam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mariyam is Asian/Pacific Islander at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and White (16.8%). 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 Mariyam 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 Mariyam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander57.7% · 333
- Black or African American17.9% · 103
- White16.8% · 97
- Two or more races4.7% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Mariyam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mariyam from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 116 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mariyam remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mariyam 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 Mariyam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mariyams live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mariyam
Mariyam is a feminine given name derived from the ancient Aramaic and Hebrew name Miryam, meaning "beloved" or "wished-for child." This name has its roots in the Middle Eastern region and can be traced back to biblical times.
The name Mariyam gained widespread recognition as the name of the mother of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith. It is mentioned numerous times in the New Testament of the Bible, particularly in the Gospels. The Quranic Arabic variation, Maryam, is also the name of a chapter in the Quran, highlighting the significance of this name in Islamic tradition.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Mariyam was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who lived in the 1st century BCE/CE in ancient Judea (present-day Israel/Palestine). Her life and devotion have been celebrated by Christians throughout history.
Another notable figure with this name was Mary of Egypt, a 4th-century Egyptian hermit and saint revered for her asceticism and repentance. She spent nearly five decades as a hermit in the desert, and her life story has been a source of inspiration for many.
In the 6th century, Mary the Younger, also known as Maria of Alitene, was a Christian mystic and ascetic from Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey). She was renowned for her visions and spiritual teachings.
During the 12th century, Mary of Oignies, a Belgian mystic and laywoman, founded a religious community known as the Beguines. She was influential in promoting the spiritual lives of lay women in the Catholic Church.
In the 15th century, Mary of the Incarnation, a French nun and mystic, founded the Order of the Canonesses Regular of Saint Augustine. She played a significant role in the Catholic Reformation and is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Mariyam or its variations, reflecting its rich cultural and religious significance across different regions and faiths.
People
Mariyam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mariyam 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
Mariyam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mariyam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mariyam 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 1,071,107 US residents.
Is Mariyam a common name?
We classify Mariyam as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 324 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mariyam most popular?
The single biggest year for Mariyam was 2024, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mariyam is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mariyam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 577 people with the name Mariyam, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,616 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 Mariyam 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 Mariyam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mariyam appears almost entirely female. Of the 565 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 Mariyam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mariyam is Asian/Pacific Islander at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and White (16.8%). 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 Mariyam most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mariyam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.7% (333 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 Mariyam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mariyam a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mariyam 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 Mariyam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mariyam 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 Mariyam 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 named Mariyam?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.