Imara
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "long-lasting" or "enduring".
Name Census estimates that about 657 living Americans carry the first name Imara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Imara today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Imara births was 2023 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Imara. 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 Imara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
657
~ 1 in 521,696 Americans
Peak year
2023
56 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,979
Tracked since 1990
Census
Imara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 613 people with the first name Imara, which placed it at #17,806 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
#17,806
National first-name rank
People counted
613
613 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Imara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Imara is Black at 43.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (35.9%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Imara 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 Imara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.2% · 265
- Hispanic or Latino35.9% · 220
- Two or more races7.7% · 47
- White7.0% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.5% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
Popularity
Imara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Imara 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 203 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
Imara 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 Imara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Imaras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Imara, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Imara
The name Imara is believed to have its origins in the Swahili language, spoken primarily in East Africa. Swahili is a Bantu language that has been influenced by Arabic, Persian, and other languages due to the region's long history of trade and cultural exchange.
Imara is derived from the Swahili word "imara," which means "strength," "firmness," or "stability." This connection suggests that the name may have been given to children with the hope that they would grow up to be strong and resilient individuals.
While the exact origin of the name is not well documented, it is likely that Imara has been in use among Swahili-speaking communities for centuries. The name's roots in the Bantu linguistic family suggest that it may have been used even before the spread of Islam and the influence of Arabic culture in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Imara is found in the historical records of the Swahili Coast, a region that stretches along the Indian Ocean from Somalia to Mozambique. This area was once home to numerous Swahili city-states, such as Kilwa, Mombasa, and Zanzibar, which were major centers of trade and cultural exchange.
Throughout history, a number of notable individuals have borne the name Imara. One such figure is Imara Mwinyi Bakari, a 19th-century Swahili princess and powerful ruler of the Mwini dynasty, which governed the island of Mombasa from the 16th to the 19th century. Imara Mwinyi Bakari was known for her strong leadership and played a significant role in the region's political and economic affairs.
Another historical figure with the name Imara is Imara Chume, a Swahili poet and philosopher who lived in the 17th century. Chume's works, which focused on themes of morality, philosophy, and spirituality, were influential in the Swahili literary tradition and continue to be studied and celebrated today.
In the 20th century, Imara Shatru was a prominent Swahili artist and sculptor who gained recognition for his intricate wood carvings and sculptures that depicted scenes from Swahili culture and daily life. His works are displayed in museums and galleries around the world, including the National Museum of Kenya.
Additionally, Imara Nkavandeka was a celebrated Swahili musician and composer from Tanzania, known for popularizing the taarab musical genre, a form of Swahili poetry set to music. Her compositions and performances played a significant role in preserving and promoting Swahili cultural heritage.
Finally, Imara Aman was a Swahili activist and human rights advocate from Kenya who dedicated her life to promoting peace, justice, and women's empowerment in East Africa. She founded several organizations that aimed to address issues such as gender-based violence, access to education, and economic empowerment for marginalized communities.
People
Imara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Imara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Imara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Imara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 657 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Imara 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 521,696 US residents.
Is Imara a common name?
We classify Imara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 665 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Imara most popular?
The single biggest year for Imara was 2023, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Imara is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Imara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 613 people with the name Imara, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,806 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 Imara 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 Imara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Imara leans strongly female. 573 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 40 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 Imara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Imara is Black at 43.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (35.9%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Imara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Imara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.2% (265 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 Imara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Imara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Imara 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 Imara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Imara 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 Imara 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 Americans are named Imara?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.