Meryem
A feminine Arabic name meaning "the exalted one" or "the greatest".
Name Census estimates that about 590 living Americans carry the first name Meryem. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Meryem today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meryem births was 2014 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meryem. 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 Meryem with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
590
~ 1 in 580,940 Americans
Peak year
2014
39 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,611
Tracked since 1992
Census
Meryem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,095 people with the first name Meryem, which placed it at #11,632 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
#11,632
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,095 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meryem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meryem is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Meryem 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 Meryem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.5% · 936
- Two or more races5.4% · 59
- Black or African American4.5% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Popularity
Meryem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meryem 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 283 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Meryem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Meryem 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 Meryem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meryems live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Meryem, while Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Meryem
Meryem is a given name with roots in the Arabic and Turkish languages. It is the Turkish and Arabic form of the name Mary, which is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam or Mariam. The name Miryam is believed to be derived from the Hebrew elements "mar" meaning "bitter" or "beloved," and "yam" meaning "sea."
The name Meryem has a significant religious and historical significance, particularly in the Islamic and Christian traditions. In the Quran, the holy book of Islam, Meryem (Mary) is revered as the mother of Prophet Isa (Jesus). The 19th chapter of the Quran is named "Surah Maryam," which narrates the story of Meryem and the miraculous birth of Prophet Isa.
In the Christian tradition, Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ and holds a significant place in the New Testament. The name Meryem is widely used among Christian communities in the Middle East and other regions with significant Christian populations.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Meryem can be traced back to the 6th century. Meryem Ana, also known as Mary the Younger or Maria the Younger, was a Christian saint and ascetic who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in the 6th century.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Meryem:
1. Meryem Murad (c. 1876 - 1964), a Turkish novelist and women's rights activist who played a significant role in the early feminist movement in the Ottoman Empire.
2. Meryem Abdulah (1903 - 1984), an Iraqi-Jewish writer and poet who wrote in Arabic and was known for her contributions to modern Arabic literature.
3. Meryem Uzerli (born 1983), a German-Turkish actress and model who has appeared in several popular Turkish television series.
4. Meryem Çavuşoğlu (born 1992), a Turkish Paralympic athlete who has won multiple medals in swimming competitions.
5. Meryem Joobeur (born 1997), a Tunisian professional tennis player who has represented her country in international tournaments.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Meryem, reflecting its cultural and religious significance across various regions and communities.
People
Meryem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meryem 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
Meryem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meryem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 590 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meryem 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 580,940 US residents.
Is Meryem a common name?
We classify Meryem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 596 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meryem most popular?
The single biggest year for Meryem was 2014, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meryem is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Meryem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,095 people with the name Meryem, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,632 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 Meryem 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 Meryem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meryem appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,089 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Meryem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meryem is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Meryem most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Meryem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.5% (936 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 Meryem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meryem a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meryem 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 Meryem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meryem 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 Meryem 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 Meryem as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Meryem, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.