Miriam (given name)

Miriam, Miryam

Miriam the prophetess (Anselm Feuerbach 1862)
Gender	female
Origin
Word/name	Hebrew (Egyptian)
Meaning	unknown; various
Region of origin	Levant
Other names
Nickname(s)	Mimi, Miri, Mim, Mir
Related names	Maria, Mariam, Mary, Maryam, Meryem

Miriam (Hebrew: מִרְיָם, Modern: Mīryam, Tiberian: Mīryām) is a feminine given name recorded in Biblical Hebrew in the Book of Exodus as the name of the sister of Moses, the prophetess Miriam.^[1]

Spelling variants include French Myriam, German Mirjam, Mirijam; hypocoristic forms include Mira, Miri and Mimi (commonly given in Israel).^[2]

The name's etymology is unclear. Since many Levite names are of Egyptian origin, the name could come from the Egyptian mr "love", as in the Egyptian names mry.t-jmn (Merit-Amun) "beloved of Amun" and mry.t-rꜥ (Merytre) "beloved of Ra".^[3]

An older Grecian pronunciation of this name, Maryām (Μαριάμ), is found in the Greek Old Testament (3rd century BCE) and in the New Testament manuscripts as the name of several women, including Mary, mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Variants of this name include Greek and Latin Maria, whence French Marie and English Mary.

"Miriam" is a common female name in countries that speak English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Dutch as well as among Ashkenazi Jews. It is also fairly common in Scandinavian countries, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia.