girls' name ★ peaked 1996

Mariah

Gender Girl Rank 2025 #448 Trend ↓ Falling 38%

A female given name from Hebrew, variant of Maria used since the nineteenth century.

Rank 2025
#448
among girls · ↓35 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
693
named Mariah · -9% vs 2024
How common
1 in 2,319
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1996
5,454 babies
All-time total
115,279
#336 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Mariah popularity over time

115,279 babies have been named Mariah since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
123418801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 222 – 222 22 – #349
1890s 256 – 256 26 +15% #474
1900s 213 – 213 21 -17% #668
1910s 308 – 308 31 +45% #865
1920s 275 – 275 28 -11% #1,249
1930s 187 – 187 19 -32% #1,365
1940s 137 – 137 14 -27% #1,978
1950s 115 – 115 12 -16% #2,625
1960s 154 – 154 15 +34% #2,338
1970s 1,656 15 1,671 167 +985% #578
1980s 3,588 11 3,599 360 +115% #496
1990s 44,603 81 44,684 4,468 +1142% #62
2000s 35,684 56 35,740 3,574 -20% #75
2010s 22,500 20 22,520 2,252 -37% #97
2020s (to 2025) 5,198 – 5,198 866 -62% #302

Where Mariah is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 641 0.40 #480
2027 599 0.37 #495
2028 566 0.35 outside top 500
2029 540 0.34 outside top 500
2030 518 0.32 outside top 500

Where Mariah is most popular

Girls named Mariah per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.509 per 1,000. Strongest in Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Mariah born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Mississippi 62 1.33 +161%
Alabama 116 1.24 +143%
South Carolina 89 0.990 +95%
Georgia 223 0.982 +93%
Louisiana 80 0.914 +80%
North Dakota 12 0.913 +79%
North Carolina 180 0.791 +55%
Tennessee 122 0.770 +51%
Indiana 105 0.748 +47%
Florida 314 0.734 +44%
Nevada 34 0.732 +44%
Virginia 122 0.716 +41%
Pennsylvania 168 0.711 +40%
Arkansas 37 0.700 +38%
New Mexico 17 0.699 +37%
Michigan 122 0.670 +32%
Wisconsin 68 0.660 +30%
Ohio 154 0.649 +28%
Missouri 77 0.639 +26%
Arizona 88 0.627 +23%
Maryland 63 0.595 +17%
Kentucky 49 0.573 +13%
Oklahoma 41 0.557 +10%
Minnesota 58 0.537 +6%
Connecticut 31 0.533 +5%
California 445 0.529 ≈ national
Illinois 119 0.520 ≈ national
Montana 7 0.517 ≈ national
Texas 413 0.513 ≈ national
New York 198 0.500 ≈ national
Kansas 28 0.485 -5%
Iowa 28 0.479 -6%
New Jersey 83 0.460 -10%
Nebraska 16 0.445 -13%
Delaware 5 0.441 -13%
Washington 57 0.395 -22%
Massachusetts 46 0.380 -25%
Colorado 42 0.376 -26%
Utah 30 0.360 -29%
South Dakota 5 0.350 -31%
Idaho 5 0.149 -71%
Oregon 6 0.092 -82%
Alaska – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Hawaii – – –
Maine – – –
New Hampshire – – –
Rhode Island – – –
Vermont – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Mariah

Mariah is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #448 in 2025 with 693 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 115,279 American babies have been named Mariah. Its peak came in 1996, when 5,454 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1990s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Mariah stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Mariah?

The median living Mariah is about 24 years old; half are between 16 and 30. An estimated 113 thousand people named Mariah are alive in the United States today.

median 24 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Mariah year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 693 #448 – –
2024 760 #413 – –
2023 783 #393 – –
2022 933 #345 – –
2021 958 #340 – –
2020 1,071 #302 – –
2019 1,197 #276 – –
2018 1,440 #216 – –
2017 1,617 #195 – –
2016 1,930 #166 – –
2015 2,118 #152 – –
2014 2,409 #137 8 #9,323
2013 2,773 #113 – –
2012 2,908 #107 – –
2011 2,995 #98 6 #11,755
2010 3,113 #97 6 #11,683
2009 3,605 #88 – –
2008 4,041 #77 10 #8,077
2007 3,707 #92 – –
2006 4,075 #82 – –
2005 3,840 #85 7 #9,771
2004 2,982 #113 11 #6,821
2003 3,073 #113 6 #10,401
2002 2,672 #130 7 #9,042
2001 3,585 #85 6 #10,072
2000 4,104 #75 9 #7,196
1995 4,773 #71 14 #4,430
1990 1,103 #259 – –
1985 341 #572 – –
1980 387 #513 6 #5,969
1975 156 #861 – –
1970 43 #1,975 – –
1965 19 #2,886 – –
1960 11 #4,077 – –
1955 8 #4,605 – –
1950 16 #2,625 – –
1945 8 #3,574 – –
1940 12 #2,516 – –
1935 21 #1,703 – –
1930 22 #1,734 – –
1925 23 #1,826 – –
1920 38 #1,249 – –
1915 23 #1,554 – –
1910 25 #872 – –
1905 25 #725 – –
1900 29 #668 – –
1895 29 #559 – –
1890 31 #474 – –
1885 26 #409 – –
1880 22 #349 – –

Famous people named Mariah

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Mariah Carey Mariah Carey American singer-songwriter (born 1969) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Mariah, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Mariah?

The median living Mariah is about 24 years old. Half of all living Mariahs are between 16 and 30 years old.

How many people named Mariah are alive today?

An estimated 113 thousand people named Mariah are alive in the United States, based on 115,279 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Mariah mean?

A female given name from Hebrew, variant of Maria used since the nineteenth century.

How popular is the name Mariah in 2025?

Mariah ranked #448 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 693 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Mariah?

115,279 babies have been named Mariah in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Mariah most popular?

Mariah peaked in 1996, when 5,454 newborns received the name.

Is Mariah a boy or girl name?

Mariah is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Mariah rising or falling?

Mariah is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Mariah become more popular?

Mariah is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 518 girls named Mariah in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Mariah?

Well-known people named Mariah include Mariah Carey (singer).

Names like Mariah

Names that sound and feel close to Mariah: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Mariah with similar names → More names starting with M →