Amilah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "hopeful" or "hopes."
Name Census estimates that about 492 living Americans carry the first name Amilah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Amilah today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amilah births was 2019 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amilah. 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 Amilah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
492
~ 1 in 696,655 Americans
Peak year
2019
54 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,881
Tracked since 2007
Popularity
Amilah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amilah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 273 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Amilah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Amilah 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 Amilah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Amilahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Amilah, while Illinois, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Amilah
The name Amilah has its origins in Arabic, derived from the root word "amal," which means "hope" or "aspiration." It is a feminine name that has been used across various regions of the Middle East and North Africa for centuries.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Amilah can be traced back to the 7th century AD, during the rise of Islam and the expansion of the Arab civilization. The name was often chosen for newborn girls as a symbolic representation of the hope and aspirations their parents had for their future.
In Islamic literature and historical records, the name Amilah is mentioned in several texts, including poetry and religious writings. One notable example is the 10th-century anthology of Arabic poetry, "Kitab al-Aghani," which includes verses mentioning the name Amilah.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women who bore the name Amilah. One of the earliest recorded instances is Amilah bint Qays, a 7th-century Arab poet and warrior from the Banu Sulaim tribe in the Arabian Peninsula. She was renowned for her courage and literary talents.
Another notable figure was Amilah al-Kurdiyah, a 12th-century Kurdish scholar and poet from Mosul, in present-day Iraq. She was celebrated for her expertise in Arabic literature and her contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence.
In the 13th century, Amilah bint al-Hajj al-Baghdadi was a prominent scholar and calligrapher from Baghdad. She was known for her mastery of the Arabic language and her beautiful calligraphic works, which adorned many manuscripts and religious texts.
During the Ottoman Empire, Amilah Khanum was a 16th-century Ottoman princess and philanthropist. She was renowned for her charitable endeavors and her support for education and the arts.
In more recent times, Amilah Rabie was a 20th-century Egyptian actress and singer, born in 1907. She was a pioneering figure in the Egyptian cinema industry and was celebrated for her talent and beauty.
The name Amilah continues to be used in various Arabic-speaking communities worldwide, carrying with it the symbolism of hope, aspiration, and cultural heritage.
People
Amilah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amilah 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
Amilah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amilah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 492 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amilah 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 696,655 US residents.
Is Amilah a common name?
We classify Amilah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 495 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amilah most popular?
The single biggest year for Amilah was 2019, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amilah is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Amilah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Amilah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Amilah 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 Amilah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Amilah 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 Amilah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Amilah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.