 Ottoman miniature ofMaryam (Mary) | |
| Pronunciation | Arabic:[ˈmarjam] Persian:[mæɾˈjæm] Amharic:[mäɾˈjäm] Malayalam:[marijam] Turkish:[mæɾˈjæm] |
|---|---|
| Gender | feminine |
| Languages | |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Hebrew (Possibly fromEgyptian) |
| Region of origin | Ancient Near East |
| Other names | |
| Related names | |
Maryam orMariam is theAramaic form of the biblical nameMiriam (the name of the prophetessMiriam, the sister ofMoses). It is notably the name ofMary the mother ofJesus.[1][2][3] The spelling in theSemitic abjads ismrym (Hebrew:מרים,Imperial Aramaic:ܡܪܝܡ,Arabic:مريم), which may be vowelized in a number of ways (Meriem,Miryam,Miriyam,Mirijam,Marium,Maryam,Mariyam,Marijam,Meryem,Merjeme,Myriem, etc.)
Via its use in theNew Testament the name has been adopted worldwide, especially inRoman Catholicism, but also inEastern Christianity, inProtestantism, andin Islam. InLatin Christianity, the Greek formMariam was adopted as latinateMaria (whence FrenchMarie and EnglishMary). Forms retaining the final -m are found throughout the Middle East, inArabic,Armenian,Georgian,Urdu, andPersian, as well as theHorn of Africa, includingAmharic,Tigrinya, andSomali,Turkish and inMalayalam asMariyam in southIndia.
The name may have originated from theEgyptian language; in a suggestion going back to 1897,it is possibly derivative of the rootmr "love; beloved"[4] (comparemry.t-ymn "Merit-Amun", i.e. "beloved ofAmun").Maas (1912) references (but rejects) a 1906 suggestion interpreting the name as "beloved ofYahweh".[5]Maas (1912) further proposes possible derivation from Hebrew, either frommarah "to be rebellious", or (more likely) frommara "well nourished".[6]
The name has a long tradition of scholarly etymologisation; some seventy suggestions are treated byOtto Bardenhewer in monographic form in hisDer Name Maria (1895).It was early etymologized as containing the Hebrew rootmr "bitter" (cf.myrrh), ormry "rebellious".St. Jerome (writing c. 390), followingEusebius of Caesarea, translates the name as "drop of the sea" (stilla maris inLatin), from Hebrew מרmar "drop" (cf. Isaiah 40:15) andיםyam "sea". This translation was subsequently renderedstella maris ("star of the sea") due toscribal error, whence the Virgin Mary's titleStar of the Sea.[4]Rashi, an 11th-century Jewish commentator on the Bible, wrote that the name was given to the sister of Moses because of the Egyptians' harsh treatment of Jews in Egypt. Rashi wrote that the Israelites lived in Egypt for two hundred ten years, including eighty-six years of cruel enslavement that began at the time Moses' elder sister was born. Therefore, the girl was called Miriam, because the Egyptians made life bitter (מַר,mar) for her people.[7]
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Modern given names derived from AramaicMaryam are frequent inChristian culture, as well as, due to theQuranic tradition of Mary, extremely frequently given inIslamic cultures. There are a large number of variants and derivations.
The New Testament gives the name as bothMariam (Μαριάμ) andMaria (Μαρία).TheLatin Vulgate uses thefirst declension,Maria.
Maryam is the now-usual English-language rendition of the Arabic name.The spellingMariyam (in German-language contexts alsoMarijam) is sometimes used as a close transcription from Hebrew, Aramaic or Arabic.
The spellingMariam is current in transliteration fromGeorgian andArmenian, and in German-language transliteration from Aramaic or Arabic.Mariam was also a current spelling in early modern English, as in the Jacobean era playThe Tragedy of Mariam.
Maryam as the name ofMary mother of Jesus is also part of given names consisting ofgenitive constructions (idafa) in Ethiopian tradition, such asHaile Mariam "power of Mary",Baeda Maryam "Hand of Mary", several peopleNewaya Maryam "Property of Mary" orTakla Maryam "Plant of Mary", used as masculine given names. In Arabic,Marwan, meaning "one who is fragrant like myrrh", could be the masculine form of Maryam.
Ustad Ali Maryam, architect in 19th century Persia, addedMaryam to his name after building a house for an important woman with that name.
