Miriah
A feminine English name derived from the names Mirabelle and Miriam.
Name Census estimates that about 1,769 living Americans carry the first name Miriah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Miriah today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Miriah births was 1991 (201 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Miriah. 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
1.8K
~ 1 in 193,756 Americans
Peak year
1991
201 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,954
Tracked since 1973
Census
Miriah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,557 people with the first name Miriah, which placed it at #9,090 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
#9,090
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,557 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Miriah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Miriah is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Hispanic (17.2%). 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 Miriah 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 Miriah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.8% · 853
- Black or African American17.5% · 272
- Hispanic or Latino17.2% · 268
- Two or more races7.5% · 116
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 10
Popularity
Miriah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Miriah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 986 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Miriah 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 Miriah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Miriahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Miriah, while Wisconsin, Tennessee, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Miriah
The name Miriah is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, derived from the root word "miryam," which means "beloved" or "wished-for child." This name has been prevalent in Jewish culture for centuries and can be traced back to biblical times.
One of the earliest mentions of the name Miriah can be found in the Old Testament, where it is a variant spelling of the name Miriam, the name of the sister of Moses and Aaron. In the Book of Exodus, Miriam is described as a prophetess and a leader among the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Miriah or its variants. One such figure was Miriam of Nazareth, a Jewish Christian woman who lived in the 1st century AD and is believed to have been a follower of Jesus Christ.
In the Middle Ages, a notable figure named Miriah ben Judah was a renowned Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in Spain during the 12th century. He was known for his contributions to the study of Jewish law and ethics.
During the Renaissance period, there was a Italian artist named Miriah Sirigatti (c. 1520-1589) who was renowned for her intricate tapestries and embroidery work. She was commissioned by several prominent Italian families to create elaborate works of art.
In more recent times, Miriah Carey (1970-) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who has achieved worldwide fame and success in the music industry. She is known for her powerful vocal range and has won numerous awards throughout her career.
Another notable figure with the name Miriah is Miriah Menzel (1985-), an American actress and singer best known for providing the voice of Queen Elsa in the popular Disney animated film "Frozen" and its sequel.
These are just a few examples of the rich history and notable individuals who have carried the name Miriah throughout the centuries, showcasing its enduring presence and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Miriah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Miriah 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
Miriah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Miriah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,769 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Miriah 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 193,756 US residents.
Is Miriah a common name?
We classify Miriah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,836 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Miriah most popular?
The single biggest year for Miriah was 1991, when 201 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Miriah is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Miriah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,557 people with the name Miriah, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,090 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 Miriah 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 Miriah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Miriah appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,546 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Miriah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Miriah is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Hispanic (17.2%). 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 Miriah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Miriah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.8% (853 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 Miriah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Miriah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Miriah 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 Miriah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Miriah 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 Miriah 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 Americans are named Miriah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.