Moriah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitterness" or "uplifted".
Name Census estimates that about 12,947 living Americans carry the first name Moriah. It is a predominantly female name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Moriah today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moriah births was 1992 (517 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moriah. 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 Moriah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Moriah is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 108 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 26,474 Americans
Peak year
1992
517 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2019 SSA rank
#1,212
Tracked since 1968
Census
Moriah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,026 people with the first name Moriah, which placed it at #2,321 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
#2,321
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
11,026 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moriah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moriah is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Black (23.7%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Moriah 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 Moriah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.8% · 6,046
- Black or African American23.7% · 2,616
- Hispanic or Latino10.9% · 1,198
- Two or more races8.1% · 892
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 182
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 92
Gender
Gender distribution for Moriah
Out of the 13,281 babies given the name Moriah since 1880, 99.2% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Moriah as a male name
- Ranked #9,459 in 2019
- 8 male births in 2019
- Peak: 2009 (20 births)
Moriah as a female name
- Ranked #1,212 in 2024
- 195 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (517 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moriah leans strongly female. 10,887 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 130 male bearers (1.2%).
Popularity
Moriah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moriah from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 4,627 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
Moriah 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 Moriah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moriahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Moriah, while Vermont, Alaska, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 223 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Moriah
The name Moriah has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "mora" (meaning "fear" or "reverence") and "Yahweh" (the Hebrew name for God). The name is associated with Mount Moriah, a significant location in the Bible where Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac.
In the Book of Genesis, Mount Moriah is mentioned as the place where Abraham built an altar to sacrifice Isaac as a test of his faith in God. However, an angel of the Lord intervened, and Abraham was instructed to sacrifice a ram caught in a thicket instead. This event holds immense significance in the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Moriah is found in the Bible itself, specifically in the Book of Genesis. Although the name is not used as a personal name in the Bible, it is associated with the sacred mountain where Abraham's sacrifice took place.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Moriah. One of the earliest examples is Moriah Moore (1766-1826), an American schoolteacher and author who wrote educational books for children. Another notable figure is Moriah Woodeson (1817-1894), an English-born Australian poet and writer known for her works on colonial life in Australia.
In more recent times, Moriah Peters (born 1992) is an American contemporary Christian music artist and songwriter. Moriah Plath (born 2001) is an American reality television personality who appeared on the TLC show "Welcome to Plathville."
Another person of note is Moriah Wilson (born 1987), an American actress and singer known for her roles in various television shows and films. Additionally, Moriah Cary (1716-1776) was an American Revolutionary War patriot and officer who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
While the name Moriah has its roots in the Hebrew language and culture, it has been adopted and used by individuals from various backgrounds and nationalities throughout history, reflecting its enduring significance and appeal.
People
Moriah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moriah 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
Moriah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moriah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,947 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moriah 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 26,474 US residents.
Is Moriah a common name?
We classify Moriah as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,281 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moriah most popular?
The single biggest year for Moriah was 1992, when 517 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moriah is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Moriah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,026 people with the name Moriah, or 3.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,321 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 Moriah 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 Moriah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moriah leans strongly female. 10,887 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 130 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Moriah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moriah is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Black (23.7%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Moriah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Moriah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.8% (6,046 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 Moriah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moriah a female name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Moriah 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 Moriah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moriah 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 Moriah 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 Moriah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.