Mariah
Mariah was given to 693 girls in 2025, #448 among girls’ names; 115,279 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 112,000 Americans named Mariah and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (97% of everyone recorded); the median is 25 years old and half are between 17 and 31.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Mariah by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Mariah mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Mariah is “a female given name from Hebrew, variant of Maria used since the nineteenth century. Popularized by singer Mariah Carey in the 1990s”
/məˈɹaɪə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Mariah?
#448 among girls’ names, 2025
Mariah fell from #152 in 2015 to #448 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 1.2 to 0.43 per 1,000.
5,454 babies in 1996, the peak
Mariah peaked in 1996, when 5,454 babies were given it (5,446 girls, #63 among girls’ names). The 693 births of 2025 are 13% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 693 | #448 | 0.43 |
| 2024 | 760 | #413 | 0.47 |
| 2023 | 783 | #393 | 0.49 |
| 2022 | 933 | #345 | 0.57 |
| 2021 | 958 | #340 | 0.58 |
| 2020 | 1,071 | #302 | 0.66 |
| 2019 | 1,197 | #276 | 0.71 |
| 2018 | 1,440 | #216 | 0.85 |
| 2017 | 1,617 | #195 | 0.94 |
| 2016 | 1,930 | #166 | 1.1 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,118 | #152 | 1.2 |
| 2014 | 2,409 | #137 | 1.3 |
| 2013 | 2,773 | #113 | 1.6 |
| 2012 | 2,908 | #107 | 1.7 |
| 2011 | 2,995 | #98 | 1.7 |
| 2010 | 3,113 | #97 | 1.8 |
| 2009 | 3,605 | #88 | 2.0 |
| 2008 | 4,041 | #77 | 2.1 |
| 2007 | 3,707 | #92 | 1.9 |
| 2006 | 4,075 | #82 | 2.1 |
| 2005 | 3,840 | #85 | 2.1 |
| 2004 | 2,982 | #113 | 1.6 |
| 2003 | 3,073 | #113 | 1.7 |
| 2002 | 2,672 | #130 | 1.5 |
| 2001 | 3,585 | #85 | 2.0 |
| 2000 | 4,104 | #75 | 2.3 |
| 1999 | 4,646 | #68 | 2.6 |
| 1998 | 5,086 | #62 | 2.9 |
| 1997 | 4,803 | #67 | 2.8 |
| 1996 | 5,446 | #63 | 3.1 |
| 1995 | 4,773 | #71 | 2.7 |
| 1994 | 4,749 | #75 | 2.7 |
| 1993 | 4,093 | #81 | 2.3 |
| 1992 | 4,712 | #74 | 2.6 |
| 1991 | 5,192 | #69 | 2.8 |
| 1990 | 1,103 | #259 | 0.58 |
| 1989 | 399 | #562 | 0.22 |
| 1988 | 423 | #521 | 0.24 |
| 1987 | 437 | #496 | 0.25 |
| 1986 | 272 | #679 | 0.16 |
| 1985 | 341 | #572 | 0.20 |
| 1984 | 311 | #585 | 0.18 |
| 1983 | 335 | #551 | 0.20 |
| 1982 | 361 | #538 | 0.21 |
| 1981 | 322 | #578 | 0.19 |
| 1980 | 387 | #513 | 0.23 |
| 1979 | 305 | #591 | 0.19 |
| 1978 | 289 | #590 | 0.19 |
| 1977 | 299 | #578 | 0.20 |
| 1976 | 190 | #761 | 0.13 |
| 1975 | 156 | #861 | 0.11 |
| 1974 | 118 | #1,019 | 0.08 |
| 1973 | 135 | #913 | 0.09 |
| 1972 | 61 | #1,531 | 0.04 |
| 1971 | 60 | #1,591 | 0.04 |
| 1970 | 43 | #1,975 | 0.02 |
| 1969 | 27 | #2,555 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 28 | #2,338 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 13 | #3,771 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 14 | #3,478 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 19 | #2,885 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 19 | #2,975 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 12 | #3,944 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 5 | #7,181 | under 0.01 |
| 1961 | 6 | #6,298 | under 0.01 |
| 1960 | 11 | #4,076 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 13 | #3,552 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 5 | #6,671 | under 0.01 |
| 1957 | 8 | #4,772 | under 0.01 |
| 1956 | 6 | #5,712 | under 0.01 |
| 1955 | 8 | #4,604 | under 0.01 |
| 1954 | 16 | #2,848 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 12 | #3,394 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 17 | #2,635 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 14 | #2,882 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 16 | #2,624 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 11 | #3,314 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 17 | #2,460 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 11 | #3,373 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 18 | #2,282 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 8 | #3,572 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 11 | #2,881 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 20 | #1,977 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 11 | #2,926 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 18 | #1,997 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 12 | #2,515 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 16 | #2,093 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 18 | #1,918 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 18 | #1,886 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 14 | #2,220 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 21 | #1,703 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 29 | #1,365 | 0.03 |
| 1933 | 10 | #2,804 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 23 | #1,615 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 16 | #2,079 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 22 | #1,733 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 20 | #1,871 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 25 | #1,660 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 22 | #1,858 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 25 | #1,698 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 23 | #1,825 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 29 | #1,590 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 32 | #1,447 | 0.03 |
| 1922 | 29 | #1,560 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 32 | #1,464 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 38 | #1,249 | 0.03 |
| 1919 | 40 | #1,188 | 0.04 |
| 1918 | 43 | #1,143 | 0.04 |
| 1917 | 30 | #1,359 | 0.03 |
| 1916 | 33 | #1,266 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 23 | #1,554 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 31 | #1,090 | 0.04 |
| 1913 | 33 | #938 | 0.05 |
| 1912 | 25 | #1,047 | 0.04 |
| 1911 | 25 | #865 | 0.06 |
| 1910 | 25 | #872 | 0.06 |
| 1909 | 15 | #1,089 | 0.04 |
| 1908 | 20 | #902 | 0.06 |
| 1907 | 17 | #938 | 0.05 |
| 1906 | 24 | #758 | 0.08 |
| 1905 | 25 | #725 | 0.09 |
| 1904 | 24 | #718 | 0.09 |
| 1903 | 22 | #724 | 0.08 |
| 1902 | 23 | #730 | 0.09 |
| 1901 | 14 | #906 | 0.06 |
| 1900 | 29 | #668 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 17 | #809 | 0.07 |
| 1898 | 26 | #646 | 0.10 |
| 1897 | 26 | #609 | 0.11 |
| 1896 | 23 | #665 | 0.10 |
| 1895 | 29 | #559 | 0.12 |
| 1894 | 32 | #511 | 0.14 |
| 1893 | 28 | #527 | 0.13 |
| 1892 | 23 | #586 | 0.11 |
| 1891 | 21 | #582 | 0.11 |
| 1890 | 31 | #474 | 0.16 |
| 1889 | 30 | #448 | 0.17 |
| 1888 | 19 | #589 | 0.11 |
| 1887 | 30 | #400 | 0.21 |
| 1886 | 24 | #446 | 0.17 |
| 1885 | 26 | #409 | 0.20 |
| 1884 | 21 | #444 | 0.16 |
| 1883 | 15 | #507 | 0.13 |
| 1882 | 22 | #386 | 0.20 |
| 1881 | 13 | #483 | 0.14 |
| 1880 | 22 | #349 | 0.24 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Mariah a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Mariah has been given almost only to girls: 183 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Mariah: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Mariah, and how old are they?
112,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 97% of the 115,279 Americans ever recorded as Mariah. The median Mariah alive today is 25 years old; half are between 17 and 31.
The 2020 Census counted 90,630 people named Mariah (90,424 women and girls, 206 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 107,708 born in the U.S. The Census count is 16% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 82 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 171 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,050 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 32,600 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 58,700 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 18,600 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Mariah born?
The states with the most babies named Mariah are California, Texas and Florida, with 29% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 77 | #435 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 59 | #543 | 0.9× |
| Florida | 53 | #349 | 0.9× |
| New York | 40 | #437 | 0.7× |
| Georgia | 35 | #301 | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 32 | #344 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 25 | #459 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 24 | #452 | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 23 | #482 | 0.8× |
| Tennessee | 22 | #374 | 0.8× |
Where Mariah is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Mariah is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 2.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Mariah with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,280,196 babies since 1880, Mariah is the third most given (9.0% of them). In 2025 it was given to 693 of their 4,824 babies (14%), the second most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Mariah
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Mariah and names like it
- Compare Mariah and MariaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sMariah peaked in 1996.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Mariah since 1910.
- The top names of 1996The year the most babies were named Mariah.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Mariah alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with MMost given first.