Kamesha
A feminine name of African-American origin, meaning "beautiful child".
Name Census estimates that about 1,046 living Americans carry the first name Kamesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kamesha today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kamesha births was 1990 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kamesha. 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 Kamesha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 327,681 Americans
Peak year
1990
67 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2009 SSA rank
#16,194
Tracked since 1972
Census
Kamesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 917 people with the first name Kamesha, which placed it at #13,247 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
#13,247
National first-name rank
People counted
917
917 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kamesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kamesha is Black at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and White (2.5%). 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 Kamesha 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 Kamesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.8% · 851
- Two or more races3.5% · 32
- White2.5% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Kamesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kamesha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 461 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kamesha 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 Kamesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kameshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, New York, Georgia recorded the most babies named Kamesha, while North Carolina, Mississippi, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kamesha
The name Kamesha is a modern variation of the traditional African name Kameesha, which has its origins in the Swahili language. The name itself is derived from the Swahili word "kamili," meaning "complete" or "perfect."
In its earliest recorded use, the name Kamesha was found in East African coastal regions, particularly in Kenya and Tanzania, where Swahili is widely spoken. The name gained popularity among the Swahili-speaking communities in these areas during the 19th century.
While there are no known historical references to the name Kamesha in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been used as a name for newborn girls, conveying a sense of perfection and completeness.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kamesha was Kamesha Aisha, a prominent Swahili poet and storyteller who lived in Zanzibar in the late 19th century. Her works celebrated the rich cultural heritage of the Swahili people and played a significant role in preserving their oral traditions.
Another notable figure was Kamesha Abdallah, a Kenyan educator and women's rights activist born in 1920. She dedicated her life to promoting education and empowerment for girls and women in her community, establishing several schools and vocational training centers.
In the realm of sports, Kamesha Mboya, a Kenyan sprinter born in 1962, made her mark by winning multiple medals at various international competitions, including the Commonwealth Games and the African Championships.
The name Kamesha also gained recognition in the field of music with Kamesha Ramadhan, a celebrated Tanzanian singer and songwriter born in 1975. Her soulful voice and poetic lyrics captivated audiences across East Africa, and she is considered one of the most influential artists of her generation.
Lastly, Kamesha Noor, a Kenyan-born fashion designer and entrepreneur born in 1985, has gained international acclaim for her innovative and sustainable clothing line, which draws inspiration from traditional African textiles and designs.
These individuals, spanning various fields and time periods, have contributed to the rich cultural tapestry associated with the name Kamesha, carrying forward its essence of completeness and perfection through their remarkable achievements and impact.
People
Kamesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kamesha 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
Kamesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kamesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,046 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kamesha 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 327,681 US residents.
Is Kamesha a common name?
We classify Kamesha as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,105 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kamesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Kamesha was 1990, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kamesha is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kamesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 917 people with the name Kamesha, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,247 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 Kamesha 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 Kamesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kamesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 914 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kamesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kamesha is Black at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and White (2.5%). 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 Kamesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kamesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (851 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 Kamesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kamesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kamesha 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 Kamesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kamesha 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 Kamesha 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 common is the name Kamesha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.