Gender Feminine
Scripts מִרְיָם(Hebrew)
Pronounced Pron. MIR-ee-əm(English) MI-ryam(German) MI-ri-yam(Czech) MEE-ree-am(Slovak)  [key·IPA]

Meaning & History

Hebrew form of Mary. It is used in the Old Testament, where it belongs to the elder sister of Moses and Aaron. She watched over the infant Moses as the pharaoh's daughter drew him from the Nile. The name has long been popular among Jews, and it has been used as an English Christian name (alongside Mary) since the Protestant Reformation.

Related Names

VariantsMirjam(German) Marianna, Miriana(Italian) Mariana(Portuguese) Miriama(Slovak)
DiminutiveMiri(Hebrew)
Other Languages & CulturesMarietjie(Afrikaans) Marie(Albanian) Mariam, Maryam(Arabic) Meriem(Arabic (Maghrebi)) Mari, Maria, Mariam, Meri(Armenian) Məryəm(Azerbaijani) Maryam(Bashkir) Maria, Miren, Maddi, Maia(Basque) Mariya, Maryia(Belarusian) Maria, Mariam(Biblical Greek) Maria(Biblical Latin) Merjem, Merjema(Bosnian) Mari, Mai(Breton) Maria, Mariya, Mariela, Mariyka(Bulgarian) Maria, Mariona, Ona(Catalan) Maria(Corsican) Marija, Maja, Mara, Mare, Marica, Marijeta, Maša, Mia(Croatian) Mariyam(Dhivehi) Maria, Marie, Marjo, Mirjam, Jet, Maaike, Manon, Marianne, Marieke, Mariëlle, Mariëtte, Marijke, Marijse, Marike, Mariska, Marita, Marja, Marjan, Meike, Mia, Mieke, Miep, Mies, Ria(Dutch) Maarja, Mari, Maria, Mirjam, Maarika, Mai, Maia, Maie, Malle, Mare, Marika, Maris, Marje, Marju(Estonian) Maria(Faroese) Mere(Fijian) Maaria, Maria, Marja, Marjaana, Marjo, Mirjam, Mirjami, Jaana, Maarika, Maija, Mari, Marianne, Marika, Marita, Maritta, Marjatta, Marje, Marjukka, Marjut, Miia, Mirja, Mirka(Finnish) Marie, Myriam, Manon, Marianne, Marielle, Mariette, Marion, Marise, Maryse(French) Maria, Maike, Mareike(Frisian) María, Maruxa(Galician) Mari, Mariam, Meri, Marika(Georgian) Maria, Meri, Marietta, Marika(Greek) Maryamu(Hausa) Malia(Hawaiian) Mariamne(History) Mária, Maja, Mara, Mari, Mariann, Marica, Marietta, Marika, Mariska(Hungarian) María, Mæja(Icelandic) Máire, Maura, Moira, Moyra, Muire, Máirín, Maureen(Irish) Mariyam(Kazakh) Maija, Marija, Māra, Mārīte(Latvian) Marija(Lithuanian) Marija, Maja, Mare(Macedonian) Mariam(Malay) Marija(Maltese) Moirrey, Voirrey(Manx) Mere(Maori) Malle, Molle(Medieval English) Maria(Occitan) Maryam(Persian) Maria, Maricica(Romanian) Maria, Mariya, Marya, Manya, Marusya, Masha(Russian) Márjá(Sami) Mele(Samoan) Maria(Sardinian) Mhairi, Moira, Moyra(Scottish) Màiri, Moire(Scottish Gaelic) Marija, Maja, Mara, Marica(Serbian) Marija, Mirjam, Maja, Manca, Mare, Marica, Maruša, Maša, Mia, Mija(Slovene) Marja(Sorbian) María, Míriam, Mariela, Marita, Mía(Spanish) Maritza(Spanish (Latin American)) Mariamu(Swahili) Maryam(Tatar) Mele(Tongan) Meryem(Turkish) Maria, Mariya, Mariyka, Marusya(Ukrainian) Mariyam, Maryam(Urdu) Meryem(Uyghur) Mair, Mari(Welsh) Mariama(Western African) Mirele(Yiddish)
Same SpellingMíriam

Popularity

People think this name is

classic   mature   formal   upper class   natural   wholesome   refined   strange   serious  

Name Days

Austria: August 26
Czechia: November 5

Images

Painting of the biblical Miriam by Anselm Feuerbach (1862)Painting of the biblical Miriam by Anselm Feuerbach (1862)

Categories

Entry updated April 5, 2022