Miara
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Armenian name Mira, meaning "harmony" or "peace".
Name Census estimates that about 223 living Americans carry the first name Miara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Miara today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Miara births was 1999 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Miara. 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 Miara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
223
~ 1 in 1,537,015 Americans
Peak year
1999
17 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,979
Tracked since 1991
Census
Miara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 234 people with the first name Miara, which placed it at #34,758 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
#34,758
National first-name rank
People counted
234
234 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Miara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Miara is Black at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.1%) and White (17.1%). 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 Miara 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 Miara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.7% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino20.1% · 47
- White17.1% · 40
- Two or more races9.4% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.8% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Miara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Miara from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 74 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Miara remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Miara 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 Miara 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 Miara
The name Miara is believed to have originated from the Malagasy language, spoken in Madagascar. It is derived from the Malagasy word "miara," which means "together" or "in company." The name likely arose during the medieval period, when the Malagasy culture and language were developing on the island.
In Malagasy tradition, names often carried symbolic meanings or reflected values and beliefs important to the community. The name Miara may have been bestowed upon children as a wish for them to live in harmony and unity with others, or to symbolize the bond between family and community.
While no specific historical references to the name Miara have been found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is likely that the name was used among the Malagasy people for centuries before written records were kept.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Miara was in the 18th century, when a Malagasy woman named Miara Ramaroson was noted for her role in helping to negotiate peace treaties between warring tribes on the island.
Another notable figure with the name Miara was Miara Andriantsitohaina, a Malagasy poet and storyteller who lived in the late 19th century. Her works helped preserve traditional Malagasy folklore and oral traditions.
In the early 20th century, Miara Ratsimandrava was a Malagasy educator and advocate for women's rights. She established several schools for girls and worked to promote educational opportunities for women in Madagascar.
Miara Rajaonah was a Malagasy artist and sculptor who gained recognition in the mid-20th century for her intricate wood carvings and sculptures depicting traditional Malagasy culture and mythology.
More recently, Miara Rasamimanana was a Malagasy environmentalist and conservationist who played a pivotal role in establishing protected areas and promoting sustainable practices in Madagascar in the late 20th century.
While the name Miara has its roots in the Malagasy language and culture, it has since spread to other parts of the world, likely through cultural exchange and migration. However, its origins and symbolic meaning remain deeply connected to the rich heritage of Madagascar.
People
Miara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Miara 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
Miara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Miara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 223 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Miara 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 1,537,015 US residents.
Is Miara a common name?
We classify Miara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 227 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Miara most popular?
The single biggest year for Miara was 1999, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Miara is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Miara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 234 people with the name Miara, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,758 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 Miara 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 Miara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Miara appears almost entirely female. Of the 237 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Miara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Miara is Black at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.1%) and White (17.1%). 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 Miara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Miara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (107 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 Miara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Miara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Miara 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 Miara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Miara 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 Miara 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 have the name Miara?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.