Mariah

Where Mariah comes from

The dictionaries list Mariah as a given name — a female given name from Hebrew, variant of Maria used since the nineteenth century. Popularized by singer Mariah Carey in the 1990s — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Hebrew
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #342 among girls — 22 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1971
    Mariah O'Brien born
    American actress, model and interior designer
  3. 1996
    Mariah Bell born
    American figure skater
  4. 1998
    Peak, #62
    5,086 babies named Mariah — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2014
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #137.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Hebrew, variant of Maria used since the nineteenth century. Popularized by singer Mariah Carey in the 1990s
Namesakes
  • Mariah Bell · American figure skater, born 1996
  • Mariah O'Brien · American actress, model and interior designer, born 1971
  • Mariah the Scientist · American singer, born 1997
  • Mariah Buzolin · Brazilian actress, born 1991
  • Mariah Nogueira · American soccer player, born 1991

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.