Kamaya
A feminine name of African origin meaning "the light shines".
Name Census estimates that about 1,829 living Americans carry the first name Kamaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kamaya today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kamaya births was 2008 (110 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kamaya. 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.
Key insights
- • Kamaya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 187,400 Americans
Peak year
2008
110 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,700
Tracked since 1987
Popularity
Kamaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kamaya from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 702 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kamaya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kamaya 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 Kamaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kamayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Georgia, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Kamaya, while Washington, Kentucky, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kamaya
The name Kamaya is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that originated in South Asia. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "kama," which means desire or love, and "ya," which is a suffix denoting a feminine name. Consequently, the name Kamaya can be interpreted as "she who is desired" or "the desirable one."
While the exact time period when the name first emerged is uncertain, it is thought to have been in use during the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 600 BCE. This era was marked by the composition of the Vedas, which are the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism and are considered the foundation of Indian philosophy and culture.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Kamaya can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic poem that is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. In the Mahabharata, Kamaya is mentioned as the name of a beautiful and desirable woman.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kamaya. One of the earliest recorded figures was Kamaya, a Sanskrit poet and scholar who lived in the 7th century CE during the reign of the Pallava dynasty in South India. She was renowned for her poetic works and her contributions to the field of literature.
Another prominent figure was Kamaya Devi, a Indian princess who lived in the 14th century CE during the Delhi Sultanate period. She was known for her beauty, intelligence, and patronage of the arts and literature.
In the 16th century, Kamaya Bhatt was a celebrated Indian mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and astronomy. She is particularly known for her work on the calculation of planetary positions and the development of mathematical techniques.
Kamaya Devi Chaudhry was an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She played an active role in the Indian independence movement and worked tirelessly to promote women's education and empowerment.
More recently, Kamaya Jayanti was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer who lived from 1917 to 2010. She was a pioneering figure in the revival and promotion of the Odissi dance form and was awarded numerous honors and accolades for her contributions to the field of dance.
People
Kamaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kamaya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kamaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kamaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,829 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kamaya 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 187,400 US residents.
Is Kamaya a common name?
We classify Kamaya as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,849 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kamaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Kamaya was 2008, when 110 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kamaya is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kamaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kamaya 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.
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.