Miriam (given name)

Miriam (given name)
Miriam
Maryam and Moses painting.jpg
Miriam is the sister of Moses in the Old Testament and is a prophetess.
Gender female
Origin
Word/Name Hebrew
Meaning unknown; various
Other names
Nickname(s) Mimi, Miri
Related names Maria, Mariamne, Mary, Maryam, Mira, Miryam

Miriam is an ancient female Hebrew given name (מִרְיָם) that has taken on many other forms in other languages and cultures, including the English name Mary.

Origin and variants

Its earliest appearance in writing may be in the biblical Book of Exodus, in which the elder sister of Moses is called Miriam.

The origin of the Hebrew: מִרְיָם, Modern Miryam Tiberian Miryām is not clear. It may mean "wished-for child", "bitter", "rebellious" or "strong waters". Alternatively, bearing in mind that many Levite names are Egyptian, it might be derived from an Egyptian word myr "beloved" or mr "love",[1][2] or even the derived ancient Egyptian name Meritamen or "Merit-Amun", "beloved of Amun".[3]

Mary, the mother of Jesus, bore a Judeo-Aramaic variant of this name, Maryām (מרים). In the New Testament of the Bible, written in Greek, her name is transformed to Mariam (Μαριάμ) or Maria. Several other women in the New Testament, including Mary Magdalene, are called by the same name. Because of Mary's great significance to two other world religions, variants of her name are often given to girl children in both Christian and Islamic cultures. In the Quran, Mary's name assumed the Arabic form Maryam (مريم), which has also passed into other languages. The Greek variant Maria passed into Latin and many modern European languages.

Variants of the name include Mary, Myriam, Mirjam, Maria, Mariam, Mira and Miri. In Israel, "Mimi" is a common diminutive.[4]

Famous people named Miriam

Fictional characters

  • Miriam bat Mordecai in The Roman Mysteries
  • Miriam Blaylock in 1983 film The Hunger
  • Miriam Leveirs in D.H. Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers
  • Miriam Pataki is a character from the cartoon Hey Arnold. She is the mother of Helga Pataki and Olga Pataki. Her husband was Robert (Bob) Pataki.

See also


References

  1. ^ Behind the Name: Mary
  2. ^ Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Miriam, Abarim Publications
  3. ^ Holly Ingraham, People's names: A Cross-Cultural Guide to the Proper Use of Over 40,000 Names in Over One Hundred Culture Groups (1997). This suggested etymology is disputed; as a female name it would be "Meritamun", which is not that close in pronunciation.
  4. ^ Dan Isaac Slobin, The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition, p.342

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