Ami
A feminine Japanese name meaning "friend" or "lovely."
Name Census estimates that about 7,492 living Americans carry the first name Ami. It is a predominantly female name (94.9% of registrations). The average person named Ami today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ami births was 1975 (334 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ami. 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 Ami with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.5K
~ 1 in 45,749 Americans
Peak year
1975
334 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,919
Tracked since 1947
Census
Ami in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,066 people with the first name Ami, which placed it at #2,623 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
#2,623
National first-name rank
People counted
9.1K
9,066 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ami
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ami is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (23.6%) and Hispanic (9.1%). 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 Ami 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 Ami at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.6% · 5,129
- Asian and Pacific Islander23.6% · 2,140
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 822
- Black or African American5.7% · 517
- Two or more races4.5% · 404
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 54
Gender
Gender distribution for Ami
Ami leans heavily female at 94.9% of total registrations, but 409 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ami as a male name
- Ranked #5,893 in 2024
- 15 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (38 births)
Ami as a female name
- Ranked #2,919 in 2024
- 56 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (334 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ami leans strongly female. 8,474 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 593 male bearers (6.5%).
Popularity
Ami: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ami from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 2,792 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ami 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 Ami during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Amis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Ami, while Nebraska, Arkansas, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 130 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ami
The name Ami has its origins in several languages and cultures across the globe. It finds its roots in the Sanskrit language, derived from the word "amita," meaning "boundless" or "infinite." This ancient Sanskrit name was commonly used in parts of South Asia, particularly in India.
Ami also has connections to the Japanese language, where it is a gender-neutral name. In Japanese, the name can be written using different kanji characters, each carrying a distinct meaning. For instance, one variation means "friend" or "companion," while another translates to "beautiful."
In French, the name Ami is a masculine form meaning "friend" or "beloved." It has been used as a given name in France and other French-speaking regions for centuries.
Historically, the name Ami has appeared in various religious texts and scriptures. In Hinduism, the concept of "Amitabha" (Infinite Light) is a central figure in certain branches of Buddhism, particularly in the Pure Land tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ami dates back to the 6th century BCE, with the Indian philosopher and scholar Ami Tathagata, who was renowned for his teachings on the nature of existence.
In the 12th century, Ami Khusrau, a renowned Persian poet and scholar, made significant contributions to the literary and cultural landscape of the Indian subcontinent.
During the 16th century, Ami Argon, a French explorer and navigator, embarked on several expeditions to the Americas and the Caribbean, leaving a lasting impact on early European exploration.
In the realm of art, Ami Merchant was an Indian painter and sculptor from the 18th century, known for her intricate and vibrant depictions of traditional Indian themes.
More recently, Ami Vitale, an American photojournalist and documentary filmmaker born in 1971, has gained international recognition for her compelling visual storytelling and advocacy for various social and environmental causes.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Ami, showcasing its diverse cultural and linguistic origins, as well as its enduring presence across various fields and eras.
People
Ami + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ami 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
Ami: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ami?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,492 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ami 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 45,749 US residents.
Is Ami a common name?
We classify Ami as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,058 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ami most popular?
The single biggest year for Ami was 1975, when 334 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ami is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ami in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,066 people with the name Ami, or 3.00 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,623 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 Ami 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 Ami?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ami leans strongly female. 8,474 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 593 male bearers (6.5%). 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 Ami?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ami is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (23.6%) and Hispanic (9.1%). 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 Ami most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ami in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.6% (5,129 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 Ami in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ami a female name?
Yes, 94.9% of people registered as Ami 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 Ami still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ami 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 Ami 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 are called Ami?
You can see how many Americans are named Ami on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.