Jamaiya
A feminine Arabic name meaning "beauty" or "gorgeous one".
Name Census estimates that about 270 living Americans carry the first name Jamaiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jamaiya today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamaiya births was 2007 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamaiya. 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.
People living today
270
~ 1 in 1,269,461 Americans
Peak year
2007
30 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2018 SSA rank
#16,661
Tracked since 1995
Census
Jamaiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 223 people with the first name Jamaiya, which placed it at #35,856 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
#35,856
National first-name rank
People counted
223
223 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
93.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jamaiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamaiya is Black at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.2%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Jamaiya 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 Jamaiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American93.7% · 209
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 5
- Two or more races2.2% · 5
- White0.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
Popularity
Jamaiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamaiya from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 180 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamaiya 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 Jamaiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamaiya
The name Jamaiya has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, originating from the Middle East region. It is believed to have derived from the Arabic word "jami'a," meaning "university" or "place of gathering." This suggests a connection to education, knowledge, and intellectual pursuits.
In the historical context, the name Jamaiya was first recorded in ancient Arabic texts and manuscripts dating back to the 7th century CE. During this period, the Islamic Golden Age flourished, and centers of learning, such as universities and libraries, thrived across the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest notable individuals bearing the name Jamaiya was Jamaiya bint al-Husayn, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in Basra, Iraq, during the 8th century CE. She was widely celebrated for her contributions to Arabic literature and her mastery of the Arabic language.
In the 10th century CE, another influential figure named Jamaiya al-Baghdadi emerged as a prominent physician and scholar in the field of medicine. She authored several medical treatises and is credited with advancing the study of gynecology and obstetrics during that era.
During the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled from Baghdad between the 8th and 13th centuries CE, the name Jamaiya gained popularity among the intellectual and scholarly circles. It was often associated with individuals who pursued knowledge and made significant contributions to various fields, such as science, philosophy, and literature.
Moving forward in history, the name Jamaiya also appeared in the Ottoman Empire, which spanned from the 14th to the early 20th century. One notable bearer of this name was Jamaiya Sultana, a powerful and influential figure in the Ottoman court during the 16th century. She played a crucial role in shaping the political landscape and cultural traditions of the empire.
Another prominent individual with the name Jamaiya was Jamaiya al-Maqdisiya, a renowned Palestinian scholar and poet who lived in the 17th century. Her works were widely celebrated and influential in the literary circles of the time, and she is remembered for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of Arabic literature and culture.
Throughout its history, the name Jamaiya has carried a sense of intellectual pursuit, scholarly endeavors, and a deep connection to the rich cultural heritage of the Middle East and the Islamic world. Its roots in the Arabic language and its association with centers of learning and knowledge have imbued the name with a sense of wisdom and intellectual curiosity.
People
Jamaiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamaiya 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
Jamaiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamaiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 270 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamaiya 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 1,269,461 US residents.
Is Jamaiya a common name?
We classify Jamaiya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 274 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamaiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamaiya was 2007, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamaiya is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jamaiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 223 people with the name Jamaiya, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,856 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 Jamaiya 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 Jamaiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamaiya leans strongly female. 220 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Jamaiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamaiya is Black at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.2%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Jamaiya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jamaiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (209 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 Jamaiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jamaiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jamaiya 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 Jamaiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jamaiya 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 Jamaiya 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 Jamaiya?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.