Maliyah

Maliyah is a modern English invented name, most likely an elaborated spelling variant of Malia, itself a Hawaiian and Swahili form of Mary. The ultimate root traces back through Hebrew Miriam, whose meaning is debated but commonly proposed interpretations include beloved, bitter, or drop of the sea. Maliyah emerged primarily in the United States in the early twenty-first century as parents sought distinctive spellings of familiar melodic names. Closely related forms include Malia, Maliya, and the broader Mary family of names.