Miryam
Feminine · “Not established”
Miriam is the first woman the Hebrew Bible calls a prophet. She leads the song at the sea — a passage generally dated among the oldest in the text — and later challenges Moses' authority and is struck with a skin disease for it. The book is not sentimental about her.
How old is the name Miryam?
Miryam first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Miryam alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 900 people named Miryam are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Miryam most popular?
Miryam peaked in 1994, reaching #3536 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 4,349 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From mry to Miryam
The story of Miryam
The Song of the Sea in Exodus 15 is attributed in the text to Moses, and then a short version is given to Miriam, who takes a timbrel and leads the women; many scholars read her couplet as the older core and the long version as an expansion. She is called a prophet there, the first woman so described. In Numbers 12 she and Aaron question Moses' unique standing, and only she is punished, with a skin affliction; Moses prays for her and she is restored after seven days outside the camp. Both episodes are unusual in giving a woman a public religious role and then reporting the conflict without softening it. Miryam peaks in the American figures in 1994.
Meaningnot established
Not established — possibly Egyptian "beloved"
Miryam has no secure Hebrew derivation. The traditional glosses — bitterness, rebellion — are folk etymologies that fit the letters imperfectly. The likeliest scholarly proposal is Egyptian mry, beloved, consistent with the narrative's setting. Miryam is the Hebrew spelling; Mary, Maria, Maryam and Mariam all descend from it and it is among the most widely borne names in the world.
How the name formed
- mry
- Miryam
- Maria
Related forms: מרים · Maryam · Miriam
Pronouncing Miryam
meer-YAHM
Two syllables, stress on the second, with the ya as a single glide. English Miriam is MEER-ee-um with three syllables and front stress.
Nicknames for Miryam
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 199431 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3536reached in 1994
- Change vs 2024
- −35.0%13 in 2025, from 20
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Miryam in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- מרים in Hebrew — transliteration
- Maryam in Arabic — same name
- Miriam in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York.
Miryams among us
people named Miryam are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Miryam
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Miryam
- #7885
- Miryam on the 2025 chart
- #252
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Miryam went to 13 girls in 2025, but Miriam and Myriam are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 1,302, which makes it the 252nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 7,633 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 1,234 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 123,636 for Miryam itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Akina test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Miryam's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Akina climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Akina's path sketches the road Miryam is walking now.
Miryam sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Miryam beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Miryam in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is the Hebrew original of one of the most widespread names in the world.
- Miri and Mimi are warm short forms.
- It carries a figure with a documented and unusually public role.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown despite the readings often given.
- Miriam is the standard English spelling and is said differently.
- It is rare in the United States and will need spelling out.
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Miryam
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Miryams are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Miryam are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Miryam?
- Miryam is one of 3 recorded spellings. Miriam is the more common one — 1,262 births in 2025 against 13 for Miryam.
- How popular is the name Miryam in 2025?
- Miryam ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Miryam?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Miryam — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Miryam with classmates?
- Miryam will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Miryam
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Miryam? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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