Miah is a streamlined, modern variant that threads together several linguistic roots—chiefly Hebrew, Latin, and Sanskrit—into a single, two-syllable package. Linguists link it to the Hebrew phrase “mi-cha-el,” meaning “who is like God,” while others see it as a respelling of Mia (“mine” or “beloved” in Italian and Scandinavian usages) or a pared-down form of Maya (“illusion” in Sanskrit or a poetic reference to water in Greek). In the United States it has occupied a comfortable niche: present on the Social Security charts since the mid-1970s, generally hovering in the 500–800 range, it satisfies the craving for a familiar yet uncrowded choice. Pronounced MY-uh, Miah asks little of the tongue but offers parents a name that feels both contemporary and quietly cosmopolitan. Literary and pop-culture sightings are still sparse, which, for some, is precisely the appeal—there is room for the child to define the name rather than be defined by it.
| Miah Dennehy - |
| Miah Burke - |