Meriem

Meaning of Meriem

Meriem is a feminine given name of Arabic origin, etymologically rooted in the late Hebrew Miriam and widely attested in the Qur’anic tradition under the form Maryam; semantically, it conveys notions of “beloved” or “wished-for child,” and manifests a phonological profile in Arabic comprising three syllables, transcribed /mɛˈriːɛm/. As a morphophonemic variant, it distinguishes itself from cognate forms such as Mariam and Miriam through orthographic preferences prevalent in North African dialects, while in Anglo-American onomastic practice it has maintained a modest but persistent presence in U.S. Social Security Administration records—peaking at rank 576 in 1917 and reappearing in recent years at rank 935 in 2019 and within the 900–980 range. The name’s cross-cultural resonance, underpinned by its religious associations with the Virgin Mary and a broader Abrahamic heritage, renders Meriem a choice that combines historical depth with phonetic clarity in multicultural contexts.