Meaning, origin and history of the name Miriam

Gender Feminine

Usage Hebrew, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew

Scripts מִרְיָם(Hebrew)

Pronounced Pron. MIR-ee-əm(English)

MI-ryam(German)

mee-RYAM(Spanish)

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) Mariam, Maryam(Arabic) Meriem(Arabic (Maghrebi)) Mariam(Armenian) Maryam(Bashkir) Maria, Miren, Maia(Basque) Mariya, Maryia(Belarusian) Maria, Mariam(Biblical Greek) Maria(Biblical Latin) Merjem, Merjema(Bosnian) Mari(Breton) Maria, Mariya, Mariyka(Bulgarian) Maria, Mariona, Ona(Catalan) Maria(Corsican) Marija, Maja, Mara, Mare, Marica, Marijeta, Maša, Mia(Croatian) Mariyam(Dhivehi) Maria, Marie, Marjo, Mirjam, Jet, Jette, 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) Mariam, Meri, Marika(Georgian) Maria, Marietta, Marika(Greek) Maryamu(Hausa) Malia(Hawaiian) Mariamne(History) Mária, Mara, Mari, Mariann, Marica, Marietta, Marika, Mariska(Hungarian) María, Mæja(Icelandic) Máire, Maura, Moira, Mairenn, Máirín, Maureen, Moyra(Irish) Mariyam(Kazakh) Maija, Marija, Māra, Mārīte(Latvian) Marija(Lithuanian) Marija, Maja, Mare(Macedonian) Mariam(Malay) 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) Màiri, Maura, Moira, Moyra(Scottish) Marija, Maja, Mara, Marica(Serbian) Marija, Mirjam, Maja, Manca, Mare, Marica, Maruša, Maša, Mia, Mija(Slovene) Marja(Sorbian) Maryam(Tatar) Mele(Tongan) Meryem(Turkish) Maria, Mariya, Mariyka, Marusya(Ukrainian) Mariyam, Maryam(Urdu) Meryem(Uyghur) Mair, Mari(Welsh) Mariama(Western African) Mirele(Yiddish)

User SubmissionsMíriam, Miriám

Popularity

Images

Painting of the biblical Miriam by Anselm Feuerbach (1862)

People think this name is

classic mature formal upper class natural wholesome refined strange serious nerdy

Name Days

Czechia: November 5

Miriam