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Summary
- No one named Mariah appears in the Bible, in Hebrew, Greek or any translation.
- Mariah is an English variant of Maria, the Greek and Latin form of Mary, which comes from the Hebrew Miryam, the name of Moses’ sister.
- Its meaning is Mary’s, which is uncertain; the name may be Egyptian in origin, perhaps from a word for “beloved.”
- The pronunciation “ma-RYE-a” is the traditional English way of saying Maria; the meaning “wind” comes from the 1951 song “They Call the Wind Maria.”
- Moriah, the place in Genesis 22:2 and 2 Chronicles 3:1, is a separate name.
- Mariah rose from 561st among American girls’ names in 1989 to 69th in 1991, after Mariah Carey’s first album.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Behind the Name, “Mariah,” “Maria,” “Mary” and “Moriah,” with United States popularity figures from Social Security Administration data. https://www.behindthename.com/name/mariah
- “Mariah (given name),” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariah_(given_name)
- “They Call the Wind Maria,” Wikipedia, on the song and its pronunciation of Maria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Call_the_Wind_Maria
- “Mariah Carey,” Wikipedia, on the origin of her name and her 1990 debut album. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariah_Carey
- Scripture references: Exodus 15:20–21; Genesis 22:2; 2 Chronicles 3:1, English Standard Version.
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