Maliyah is a modern American spelling of Malia, the Hawaiian form of Mary, whose Hebrew source Miryam is usually explained as "beloved" or "sea of bitterness". The -iyah ending follows the Aaliyah pattern, and the name took off when Malia Obama moved into the White House in 2009. Maliyah entered the top 1000 in 2002, peaked at number 297 in 2009 and has settled at number 626 in 2025.