Ariah is a modern spelling of Aria, the Italian word for "air" that also names a solo "song" in an opera. The final h gives it the look of biblical names like Mariah, and some parents also connect it to the Hebrew ari, "lion". In the United States Ariah entered the top 1000 in 2010, shot up to its peak at number 311 in 2016 and has since settled back to 636 in 2025.