Maraya
A feminine name with Arabic origins meaning "mirror" or "reflecting pool".
Name Census estimates that about 893 living Americans carry the first name Maraya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maraya today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maraya births was 2006 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maraya. 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 Maraya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
893
~ 1 in 383,823 Americans
Peak year
2006
58 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,225
Tracked since 1977
Census
Maraya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 827 people with the first name Maraya, which placed it at #14,280 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
#14,280
National first-name rank
People counted
827
827 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
40.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maraya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maraya is Hispanic at 40.5%. The next largest groups are White (28.3%) and Black (20.1%). 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 Maraya 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 Maraya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino40.5% · 335
- White28.3% · 234
- Black or African American20.1% · 166
- Two or more races6.5% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 18
Popularity
Maraya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maraya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 395 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maraya 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 Maraya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marayas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Maraya
The name Maraya finds its origins in the Sanskrit language, with roots tracing back to ancient India. It is a feminine name derived from the Sanskrit word "marut," which means "wind" or "breeze." This connection to the natural world, particularly the air element, has imbued the name with a sense of grace and freedom.
In the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, there are references to the Maruts, a group of deities associated with storms and wind. While the name Maraya itself is not explicitly mentioned, its linguistic ties to these revered entities suggest a reverence for nature and its powerful forces.
The earliest recorded use of the name Maraya can be traced back to the 5th century CE in India. One notable figure bearing this name was Maraya Devi, a princess from the Gupta Empire, known for her patronage of the arts and her support of cultural endeavors.
As the name spread beyond the Indian subcontinent, it took on various spellings and adaptations. In the Middle East, the name Maraya was sometimes written as Maraya or Mariyah, reflecting the influence of Arabic culture and language.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Maraya. In the 9th century, Maraya Al-Asturlabi was a renowned astronomer and mathematician from Baghdad, whose contributions to the field of astrolabes were highly regarded.
During the Renaissance period, Maraya Sforza (1493-1557) was an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her influential role in the cultural landscape of Milan.
In the 18th century, Maraya Thérèse de Bourbon (1717-1748), a French princess and granddaughter of King Louis XIV, was celebrated for her beauty and her role in the court of Versailles.
More recently, Maraya Carey (born 1970) is a famous American singer, songwriter, and actress, whose powerful vocals and chart-topping hits have made her a global icon in the music industry.
Maraya Zapata (born 1976) is a Mexican author and pioneer of the "New Adult" genre, renowned for her captivating romantic fiction and her ability to connect with readers worldwide.
People
Maraya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maraya 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
Maraya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maraya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 893 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maraya 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 383,823 US residents.
Is Maraya a common name?
We classify Maraya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 909 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maraya most popular?
The single biggest year for Maraya was 2006, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maraya is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maraya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 827 people with the name Maraya, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,280 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 Maraya 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 Maraya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maraya appears almost entirely female. Of the 821 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Maraya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maraya is Hispanic at 40.5%. The next largest groups are White (28.3%) and Black (20.1%). 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 Maraya most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Maraya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.5% (335 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 Maraya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maraya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maraya 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 Maraya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maraya 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 Maraya 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 Maraya?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Maraya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.