Mirah
Of Persian/Iranian origin meaning "princess" or "top lady".
Name Census estimates that about 535 living Americans carry the first name Mirah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mirah today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mirah births was 2024 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mirah. 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 Mirah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
535
~ 1 in 640,662 Americans
Peak year
2024
25 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,234
Tracked since 1920
Census
Mirah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 544 people with the first name Mirah, which placed it at #19,436 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
#19,436
National first-name rank
People counted
544
544 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mirah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mirah is White at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Black (21.9%) and Hispanic (15.1%). 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 Mirah 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 Mirah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.1% · 251
- Black or African American21.9% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino15.1% · 82
- Two or more races8.6% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.0% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 7
Popularity
Mirah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mirah from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 203 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mirah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mirah 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 Mirah 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 Mirah
The name Mirah is a relatively modern invention, believed to have emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century. Its origins are somewhat uncertain, but it is thought to be a variation or combination of the names Mira and Sarah. The name Mira is derived from the Latin word "mirari," meaning "to wonder" or "to admire," while Sarah is a Hebrew name meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
One possible theory is that Mirah was created as a blend of these two names, combining the sense of wonder and admiration from Mira with the regal connotations of Sarah. However, the exact circumstances and reasoning behind the creation of this name remain unclear.
Despite its relatively recent emergence, the name Mirah has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest recorded instances is Mirah Wilkins (1879-1968), an American author and journalist who wrote extensively on children's literature and education.
Another notable figure is Mirah Carey (1888-1967), an American educator and activist who fought for women's rights and was involved in the suffragette movement in the early 20th century.
In the realm of arts and entertainment, Mirah Zeitlyn (born 1976) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist known for her introspective and unconventional folk-rock music.
The name Mirah has also been associated with scientific and academic achievements. Mirah Curzer (1904-1985) was a pioneering American physicist who made significant contributions to the study of nuclear physics and particle acceleration.
Lastly, Mirah Soleil Ross (born 1990) is a Canadian actress and model, best known for her role in the television series "The Killing" and her work in various independent films.
While the name Mirah may be relatively new, its blend of diverse cultural influences and associations with remarkable individuals across various fields has endowed it with a rich and multifaceted identity.
People
Mirah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mirah 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
Mirah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mirah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 535 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mirah 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 640,662 US residents.
Is Mirah a common name?
We classify Mirah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 548 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mirah most popular?
The single biggest year for Mirah was 2024, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mirah is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mirah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 544 people with the name Mirah, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,436 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 Mirah 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 Mirah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mirah leans strongly female. 541 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Mirah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mirah is White at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Black (21.9%) and Hispanic (15.1%). 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 Mirah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mirah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.1% (251 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 Mirah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mirah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mirah 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 Mirah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mirah 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 Mirah 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 Mirah?
Want to know how many people share the name Mirah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.