Jama
Feminine name of Arabic origin, meaning "sum total" or "gathering".
Name Census estimates that about 1,351 living Americans carry the first name Jama. It is a predominantly female name (93.9% of registrations). The average person named Jama today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jama births was 1961 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jama. 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 Jama with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 253,704 Americans
Peak year
1961
54 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,135
Tracked since 1918
Census
Jama in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,949 people with the first name Jama, which placed it at #7,709 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
#7,709
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,949 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jama
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jama is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (28.8%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Jama 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 Jama at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.3% · 1,272
- Black or African American28.8% · 561
- Two or more races2.4% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Jama
Jama leans heavily female at 93.9% of total registrations, but 101 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jama as a male name
- Ranked #13,135 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2017 (9 births)
Jama as a female name
- Ranked #15,269 in 2005
- 6 female births in 2005
- Peak: 1961 (54 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jama on both sides of the split. Of the 1,950 people counted with this name, 492 were male (25.2%) and 1,458 were female (74.8%).
Popularity
Jama: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jama from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 429 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jama 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 Jama during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jamas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois recorded the most babies named Jama, while Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 132 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jama
The name Jama has its roots in the Arabic language, originating from the word "jama'a," which means "to gather" or "to unite." It is believed to have emerged during the early centuries of Islam, when the religion was spreading across the Middle East and North Africa.
In its earliest form, Jama was likely a descriptive name given to individuals who possessed a talent for bringing people together or fostering a sense of community. As the Islamic faith expanded, the name may have been adopted by those who played a role in uniting different tribes or groups under the banner of Islam.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jama can be traced back to the 8th century CE, when a prominent Muslim scholar and jurist named Jama al-Din al-Quduri lived in Baghdad, Iraq. Al-Quduri was renowned for his contributions to Islamic jurisprudence and his teachings on the Hanafi school of thought.
Throughout the medieval period, several notable figures bore the name Jama. In the 12th century, Jama al-Din al-Isfahani was a celebrated Persian poet and scholar who authored works on literature, philosophy, and mysticism. His poetry often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
In the 13th century, Jama al-Din al-Akhnai was a highly influential Sufi mystic and theologian from Iran. His teachings on the unity of existence and the divine nature of reality had a profound impact on Islamic mysticism and philosophy.
Moving forward to the 15th century, Jama al-Din al-Afghani was a renowned political activist and philosopher who played a pivotal role in the Islamic modernist movement. He advocated for reforms within the Muslim world and encouraged a revival of Islamic political thought and unity.
Lastly, in the 20th century, Jama al-Din al-Husayni was a prominent Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader. He served as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and played a significant role in the Palestinian national movement during the British Mandate period in the early to mid-1900s.
While the name Jama has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has also been adopted by various other communities around the world, reflecting the rich diversity and interconnectedness of human societies throughout history.
People
Jama + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jama as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jama: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jama?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,351 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jama 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 253,704 US residents.
Is Jama a common name?
We classify Jama as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,653 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jama most popular?
The single biggest year for Jama was 1961, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jama is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jama in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,949 people with the name Jama, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,709 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 Jama 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 Jama?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jama on both sides of the split. Of the 1,950 people counted with this name, 492 were male (25.2%) and 1,458 were female (74.8%). 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 Jama?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jama is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (28.8%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Jama most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jama in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.3% (1,272 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 Jama in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jama a female name?
Yes, 93.9% of people registered as Jama 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 Jama still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jama 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 Jama 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 Jama?
You can see how many Americans are named Jama on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.