UK girl's name
Mariya
A feminine name of Aramaic origin meaning "sea of bitterness".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Mariya is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Mariya popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1302, with 25 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2007, with 62 births.
This profile covers 1,166 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 40% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 1,169 living people in the UK are called Mariya. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Mariya ranked #1302 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 25 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2007, when 62 girls were registered as Mariya.
- • Mariya ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #765 in 2019.
- • About 1,169 living people in the UK are estimated to have Mariya as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1302
2024
Births in 2024
25
Latest year
Peak year
2007
62 births
Estimated living
1,169
2026
Meaning
What does Mariya mean?
The name Mariya originates from the Hebrew name Miryam, which is believed to have derived from the ancient Egyptian word "mr" meaning "beloved" or "love". Miryam is also connected to the Hebrew root "mrr" meaning "bitterness" or "rebellion". This duality in meaning is reflective of the biblical character Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Mariya is a variant spelling of the name Maria, which is the Latin and Greek form of Miryam. The name Maria first appeared in the New Testament of the Bible, referring to the Virgin Mary. It quickly spread across Europe and became one of the most widely used names among Christians.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mariya is in the Old Church Slavonic language, which was used in the Byzantine Empire and later adopted by the Slavic peoples. The name Mariya was likely introduced to the Slavic regions through the influence of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Historically, there have been several notable figures with the name Mariya. One of the most famous is Maria Theresa (1717-1780), the Archduchess of Austria and Holy Roman Empress. She is renowned for her reforms and her efforts to centralize the Habsburg Monarchy.
Another prominent Mariya is Maria Skłodowska-Curie (1867-1934), the Polish physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering work on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win the Nobel Prize twice.
In the realm of literature, Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and poet, known for her works that promoted the education of women and addressed social issues.
In the realm of religion, Maria Faustyna Kowalska (1905-1938) was a Polish nun and mystic, renowned for her visions and writings on the Divine Mercy devotion, which has become popular in the Catholic Church.
Lastly, Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an Italian educator and physician, best known for developing the Montessori method of education, which emphasizes child-centered learning and independence.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Mariya over time
The chart below shows babies named Mariya registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Mariya, the clearest high point is 2007. The latest England and Wales figure is 25 births in 2024, compared with 62 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mariya by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Mariya was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #1194 | 139 | 5 |
| 2010s | #893 | 426 | 10 |
| 2000s | #685 | 450 | 10 |
| 1990s | #651 | 151 | 4 |
Geography
Where Mariya is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Mariya. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Mariya ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #765 in 2019.
Across the UK
Mariya in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#765 in 2019
3 years of NRS records, 9 total registered
Related
Names similar to Mariya
- Megan 70,884
- Mia 67,204
- Molly 47,734
- Millie 44,390
- Maisie 32,671
- Matilda 29,965
- Maya 26,445
- Madison 18,441
- Maria 17,304
- Mollie 15,914
- Martha 15,116
- Maddison 14,918
FAQ
Mariya: questions and answers
How popular is the name Mariya in the UK right now?
In 2024, Mariya was ranked #1302 for girls in England and Wales, with 25 births registered.
When was Mariya most popular?
The peak year on record was 2007, with 62 babies registered as Mariya in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Mariya?
A feminine name of Aramaic origin meaning "sea of bitterness".
How many people are called Mariya in the UK?
A total of 1,166 babies have been registered as Mariya across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 9 more in Scotland.
Where is Mariya most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Mariya ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #765 in 2019. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.