Maryiah
A feminine name derived from the combination of Mary and Yahweh (Hebrew for "God").
Name Census estimates that about 214 living Americans carry the first name Maryiah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maryiah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maryiah births was 2009 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maryiah. 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
214
~ 1 in 1,601,656 Americans
Peak year
2009
18 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2020 SSA rank
#9,320
Tracked since 1997
Census
Maryiah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Maryiah, which placed it at #38,397 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
#38,397
National first-name rank
People counted
200
200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maryiah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maryiah is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.0%) and Two or More Races (12.5%). 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 Maryiah 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 Maryiah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.5% · 121
- Hispanic or Latino14.0% · 28
- Two or more races12.5% · 25
- White12.0% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Maryiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maryiah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 128 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maryiah 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 Maryiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maryiahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Maryiah
The name Maryiah is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Miriam. Its origins can be traced back to ancient Semitic languages, with the root "mryr" meaning "bitter" or "beloved." In the Old Testament, Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron, playing a vital role in the Exodus story.
The name Miriam was widely used in Jewish communities throughout history. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maryiah appears in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism dating back to the 3rd to 5th centuries CE. Here, it is mentioned as a variant spelling used by certain Jewish communities.
During the Middle Ages, the name Miriam gained popularity among Christians, who often Latinized it to Maria or Mary. The variant Maryiah likely emerged as a blend of these spellings, blending the Hebrew root with the Christian adaptations.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Maryiah was a 12th-century Jewish scholar and poet from Narbonne, France. Known as Maryiah the Jewess, she was renowned for her contributions to Hebrew literature and poetry.
In the 16th century, Maryiah Ferarra, an Italian Jew, gained recognition for her translations of religious texts from Hebrew to Italian. Her work helped disseminate Jewish teachings to a wider audience.
In the 18th century, Maryiah Murray was a notable Scottish poet and dramatist. Born in 1615, she is remembered for her influential contributions to the literary scene of her time.
Moving into the 19th century, Maryiah Edgeworth, an Irish novelist and children's writer, was a prominent figure. Born in 1767, her works, such as "Castle Rackrent" and "The Parent's Assistant," were widely read and influential.
Another notable figure with the name Maryiah was Maryiah Carey, an American operatic soprano born in 1835. She was renowned for her performances in various operas and concert halls across Europe and the United States.
People
Maryiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maryiah 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
Maryiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maryiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 214 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maryiah 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 1,601,656 US residents.
Is Maryiah a common name?
We classify Maryiah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 216 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maryiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Maryiah was 2009, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maryiah 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 Maryiah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Maryiah, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,397 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 Maryiah 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 Maryiah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maryiah leans strongly female. 197 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.5%). 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 Maryiah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maryiah is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.0%) and Two or More Races (12.5%). 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 Maryiah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Maryiah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.5% (121 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 Maryiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maryiah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maryiah 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 Maryiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maryiah 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 Maryiah 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 Maryiah?
See how many Americans are named Maryiah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.