Miriam (given name)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miriam is a female given name. In Hebrew: מִרְיָם, Standard Miryam Tiberian Miryām ; it means either "wished for child", "bitter" or "rebellious", but it might be derived originally from an Egyptian name, myr "beloved" or mr "love".[1] Variants of the name include Mary, Maria and Mariam. In Israel, "Mimi" is a common nickname for Miryam (Miriam) in the same way Bill is for William in English.[1].
[edit] Famous people named Miriam
- Miriam, the sister of Moses
- Miriam (entertainer) (born c. 1981), Mexican transwoman who starred in There's Something About Miriam
- Miriam Flynn (born 1952), American voice artist and character actress
- Miriam Gallardo (born 1968), Peruvian volleyball player
- Miriam Gonzalez (born 1977), Playboy playmate
- Miriam Leslie (1828-1914), American author, publisher, woman suffrage advocate, and philanthropist
- Miriam Makeba (born 1932), South African singer and activist
- Miriam Margolyes (born 1941), a British actress
- Miriam Shaviv (born 1976), literary editor of the Jerusalem Post
- Miriam Stockley (born 1962), English South African-born singer
- Miriam Stoppard (born 1937), British physician, author, television presenter, and agony aunt
- Miriam Toews (born 1964), Canadian author
- Miriam Yeung (born 1974), Hong Kong singer-actress
[edit] Fictional characters
- Miriam ben Mordecai in The Roman Mysteries
- Miriam Blaylock in 1983 movie The Hunger
- Miriam Leveirs in D.H. Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers
[edit] Origin and variants
Miriam (מִרְיָם) is an ancient Hebrew name that has taken on many other forms in other languages and cultures, including the English name Mary. Its earliest appearance in writing may be in the biblical Book of Exodus, in which the elder sister of Moses is called Miriam.
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 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 world religions, variants of her name are often given to girl children in both Christian and Islamic cultures. The Greek variant Maria passed into Latin and many modern European languages. In the Quran, Mary's name assumed the Arabic form Maryam (مريم), which has also passed into other languages.
[edit] See also
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This page or section lists people with the given name Miriam. If an internal link for a specific person referred you to this page, you may wish to add the surname to that link. |
