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NameAlmanac

Miriam

Girls’ name Recorded 1880-2025

Miriam was given to 1,262 girls in 2025, #246 among girls’ names; 118,190 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 73,500 Americans named Miriam and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (62% of everyone recorded); the median is 34 years old and half are between 17 and 60.

Babies named Miriam each year, first recorded in 1880
Miriam, 1880-2025; highest in 1924.5001k1.5k2k188019001920194019601980200020251924 peak: 1,834
Miriam, 1880-2025; highest in 1924.5001k1.5k2k188019001920194019601980200020251924 peak: 1,834
Miriam, 1880-2025; highest in 1924.5001k1.5k2k18801905193019551980200520251924 peak: 1,834
Miriam, 1880-2025; highest in 1924.5001k1.5k2k18801930198020251924 peak: 1,834

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Miriam or MyriamNames of the 1920sNames in New York

Births of Miriam by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Miriam mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Miriam is “a female given name from Hebrew.” Its etymology gives the senses “bitter” (מרים) and “to be bitter” (meaning).

From Hebrew מִרְיָם (Miryam), possibly from Aramaic מרים (Maryām, “bitter”), from a root מר (m-r) meaning “to be bitter”. The meaning of this name which is the Old Testament equivalent of Mary has been debated for centuries. Some other explanations are mutiny / rebellion / disobedience from a root מרי (m-r-y).

/ˈmɪɹi.əm/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Miriam (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Miriam?

#246 among girls’ names, 2025

Miriam rose from #293 in 2015 to #246 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.62 to 0.79 per 1,000.

1,834 babies in 1924, the peak

Miriam peaked in 1924, when 1,834 girls were given it, #143 among girls’ names. The 1,262 births of 2025 are 69% of that peak.

Miriam by year
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 girls
20251,262#2460.79
20241,279#2490.79
20231,246#2490.78
20221,203#2610.73
20211,193#2590.73
20201,151#2680.71
20191,165#2850.69
20181,109#3000.65
20171,152#2840.67
20161,122#2900.63
Every recorded year (146)
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 girls
20151,106#2930.62
20141,075#3040.60
20131,114#2860.63
20121,051#3050.60
2011947#3320.54
20101,086#3000.61
20091,079#3060.59
20081,102#3010.58
20071,146#2940.60
20061,160#2860.61
20051,191#2800.64
20041,201#2710.65
20031,118#2790.61
20021,121#2790.62
20011,076#2920.60
20001,162#2780.64
19991,047#2950.59
1998994#3060.56
1997939#3110.54
19961,008#2870.58
1995979#2850.56
19941,028#2720.58
19931,024#2680.57
19921,057#2630.57
19911,012#2730.54
1990983#2840.52
1989811#3130.44
1988735#3350.41
1987758#3210.44
1986758#3160.44
1985747#3210.43
1984787#3060.47
1983739#3120.44
1982812#3010.48
1981801#3030.48
1980781#3100.47
1979762#3140.47
1978612#3520.40
1977659#3430.43
1976619#3450.42
1975671#3300.46
1974599#3610.41
1973589#3620.40
1972574#3750.38
1971693#3550.42
1970655#3700.37
1969616#3750.37
1968653#3450.40
1967656#3500.40
1966666#3480.39
1965753#3270.43
1964853#3200.45
1963896#3110.46
1962991#2920.50
1961949#2990.47
19601,051#2810.52
1959956#2930.47
1958996#2800.50
1957951#2950.47
19561,040#2640.52
19551,026#2640.52
19541,047#2550.54
1953906#2750.48
1952910#2640.49
1951871#2630.48
1950841#2640.49
1949708#2900.41
1948698#2890.41
1947756#2810.43
1946699#2750.44
1945672#2600.51
1944710#2570.53
1943708#2620.51
1942706#2600.52
1941715#2430.59
1940735#2310.64
1939712#2310.65
1938768#2200.70
1937752#2210.71
1936769#2130.74
1935792#2160.76
1934818#2180.78
1933912#1860.90
1932904#2010.85
1931869#2080.82
19301,052#1830.93
19291,074#1851.0
19281,250#1681.1
19271,377#1621.2
19261,511#1551.3
19251,599#1541.3
19241,834#1431.5
19231,733#1451.4
19221,639#1511.4
19211,743#1471.4
19201,744#1401.5
19191,541#1451.4
19181,708#1381.5
19171,614#1341.5
19161,460#1401.4
19151,377#1381.4
1914981#1491.3
1913826#1461.3
1912686#1591.2
1911487#1641.2
1910368#1860.93
1909339#1761.0
1908342#1741.0
1907301#1830.94
1906273#1830.92
1905234#2000.80
1904227#1990.82
1903218#1930.83
1902200#2090.76
1901218#1890.91
1900214#2140.71
1899181#2060.78
1898176#2190.68
1897188#2010.80
1896169#2120.71
1895169#2060.72
1894152#2160.68
1893108#2550.51
189288#2860.41
189183#2720.45
189083#2750.44
188980#2650.45
188864#2950.36
188746#3150.32
188656#2790.39
188542#3160.32
188445#2890.35
188334#3040.30
188240#2830.37
188127#3070.29
188028#3030.31

Download Miriam’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.

Is Miriam a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Miriam has been given almost only to girls: 280 boys in 146 years of records.

Girls and boys named Miriam: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Miriam, and how old are they?

73,500 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 62% of the 118,190 Americans ever recorded as Miriam. The median Miriam alive today is 34 years old; half are between 17 and 60.

The 2020 Census counted 107,719 people named Miriam (107,505 women and girls, 214 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 71,668 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.5 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.

Alive today, by age

100-109110
90-991,180
80-893,300
70-796,520
60-697,720
50-595,850
40-497,160
30-39 (median)9,180
20-2910,900
10-1910,700
0-910,700

Alive today, by generation

By generation
GenerationBornAlive
Silent Generation1928-19454,010
Baby Boomers1946-196413,400
Generation X1965-19809,840
Millennials1981-199613,800
Generation Z1997-201217,300
Generation Alpha2013-202515,100

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 Miriam born?

The states with the most babies named Miriam are New York, Pennsylvania and California, with 41% of its births recorded by state since 1910.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among girls’ names in the state in 2025
StateSince 1910Rank, girlsvs. national
New York24,895#402.8×
Pennsylvania10,129#2251.5×
California9,899#4211.0×
Texas6,391#4550.8×
New Jersey6,308#291.9×
Ohio5,562#2151.0×
Illinois4,381#3300.8×
Georgia3,152#6380.9×
Massachusetts2,983#4370.9×
South Carolina2,711#4361.4×

Where Miriam is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Miriam is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 2.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

New York2.75×
New Jersey1.86×
Pennsylvania1.48×
South Carolina1.36×
Maryland1.06×
District of Columbia1.05×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

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 Miriam 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 4 names spelled alike, given to 122,450 babies since 1880, Miriam is the most given (97% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,262 of their 1,302 babies (97%), again the most given.

Miriam and the names spelled alike
NameSince 1880Births 2025Peak year
Miriam118,1901,2621924
Myriam3,160272003
Miryam904131994
Mirriam196under 51923

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 Miriam

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

NameRecorded1880-2025
Eloisa7,040
Aileen37,642
Ines7,150
Manuela11,068
Leonor6,183
Petra14,626

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 Miriam and names like it

  1. Compare Miriam and MyriamBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
  2. The most given names of the 1920sMiriam peaked in 1924.
  3. New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Miriam since 1910.
  4. Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Miriam: every such name, by how often it is given.
  5. The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Miriam.
  6. The names of Generation ZMost people named Miriam alive today were born 1997-2012.
  7. Names starting with MMost given first.

Compare Miriam with another name