Amaia
A feminine name of Basque origin meaning "the end" or "to finish".
Name Census estimates that about 4,913 living Americans carry the first name Amaia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Amaia today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amaia births was 2020 (521 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amaia. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Amaia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Amaia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.9K
~ 1 in 69,765 Americans
Peak year
2020
521 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#600
Tracked since 1993
Census
Amaia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,385 people with the first name Amaia, which placed it at #6,663 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,663
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,385 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
65.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Amaia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amaia is Hispanic at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and White (12.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Amaia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Amaia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino65.7% · 1,568
- Black or African American14.1% · 336
- White12.0% · 286
- Two or more races6.4% · 153
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
Popularity
Amaia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amaia from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 2,426 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Amaia by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Amaia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Amaias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Florida, California, New York recorded the most babies named Amaia, while Minnesota, Iowa, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 124 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Amaia
The name Amaia has its origins in the Basque language, spoken primarily in the Basque Country, a region straddling northern Spain and southern France. Its earliest usage can be traced back to the Middle Ages, though its precise etymology is uncertain.
One theory suggests that Amaia derives from the Basque word 'amai,' meaning 'end' or 'finish,' possibly signifying a sense of completion or finality. Another hypothesis links it to the Basque word 'amaitu,' meaning 'to finish' or 'to complete.' These connections could imply a symbolic association with perseverance or the achievement of goals.
Amaia may also have ties to the Basque word 'amaia,' which translates to 'grandmother' or 'matriarch.' In this context, the name could hold connotations of wisdom, nurturing, and reverence for elders and familial bonds.
Historically, the name Amaia gained prominence in the 11th century, when it was borne by Amaia de Butrón, a noble Basque woman who played a significant role in the region's political and cultural affairs. Her influence helped popularize the name among the Basque aristocracy and commoners alike.
In the 13th century, Amaia de Guevara, a prominent figure in the Basque County, was renowned for her literary contributions and patronage of the arts. Her legacy further solidified the name's association with cultural and intellectual pursuits.
Other notable bearers of the name throughout history include Amaia Montero, a Spanish singer-songwriter born in 1976, known for her work with the band La Oreja de Van Gogh. Amaia Salamanca, born in 1986, is a Spanish actress renowned for her roles in television series and films.
In the realm of sports, Amaia Osaba Olazabal, born in 1978, is a former professional basketball player who represented the Spanish national team and achieved success in both domestic and international competitions.
The name Amaia has also been carried by historical figures such as Amaia Arrazola, a 16th-century Basque poet and feminist, and Amaia Gorostiaga, a 19th-century Basque writer and educator who advocated for women's rights and education.
People
Amaia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amaia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Amaia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amaia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,913 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amaia going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 69,765 US residents.
Is Amaia a common name?
We classify Amaia as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,951 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amaia most popular?
The single biggest year for Amaia was 2020, when 521 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amaia is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Amaia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,385 people with the name Amaia, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,663 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Amaia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Amaia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Amaia appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,386 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Amaia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amaia is Hispanic at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and White (12.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Amaia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Amaia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.7% (1,568 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Amaia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Amaia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Amaia in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Amaia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Amaia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Amaia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Amaia?
Want to know how many Americans are named Amaia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.