Lamesha
A feminine name originating from Yoruba meaning "my blessings are due".
Name Census estimates that about 548 living Americans carry the first name Lamesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lamesha today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lamesha births was 1990 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lamesha. 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
548
~ 1 in 625,464 Americans
Peak year
1990
35 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2006 SSA rank
#16,242
Tracked since 1971
Census
Lamesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 473 people with the first name Lamesha, which placed it at #21,475 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
#21,475
National first-name rank
People counted
473
473 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
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 Lamesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lamesha is Black at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and White (1.9%). 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 Lamesha 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 Lamesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.8% · 439
- Two or more races4.0% · 19
- White1.9% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Lamesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lamesha 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 231 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
Lamesha 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 Lamesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lameshas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lamesha
The name Lamesha is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "lamis" meaning "to touch" or "to feel." It is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the medieval period, around the 7th to 13th centuries AD.
Lamesha was a relatively rare name in ancient times, but it did appear in some historical records and texts. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in an 11th-century Arabic manuscript, where it was used to describe a skilled artisan known for their intricate metalwork.
In the 13th century, a renowned Islamic scholar and poet named Lamesha ibn al-Qadhi was born in what is now modern-day Iraq. He is known for his contributions to the study of Arabic literature and his collection of poems celebrating the beauty of nature.
During the Ottoman Empire, which spanned from the 14th to the 20th centuries, Lamesha was a relatively uncommon name, but it was occasionally used by families of Turkish or Arab descent. One notable figure from this era was Lamesha Pasha, a high-ranking military commander who served under Sultan Mehmed IV in the late 17th century.
In more recent history, Lamesha has been the name of several notable individuals. Lamesha Al-Gailani was an Iraqi archaeologist and historian who lived from 1892 to 1976. She is known for her work in preserving and documenting the cultural heritage of ancient Mesopotamia.
Another significant figure was Lamesha Khatun, a 19th-century Afghan poet and writer who was renowned for her contributions to the Dari and Pashto literary traditions. She was born in 1820 and spent much of her life in Kabul, where she gained recognition for her eloquent and emotional verses.
While not a common name in modern times, Lamesha has a rich historical legacy that spans various cultures and regions of the Middle East and Central Asia. Its linguistic roots and cultural associations have made it a unique and intriguing name with a fascinating backstory.
People
Lamesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lamesha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lamesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lamesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 548 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lamesha 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 625,464 US residents.
Is Lamesha a common name?
We classify Lamesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 579 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lamesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Lamesha was 1990, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lamesha 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 Lamesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 473 people with the name Lamesha, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,475 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 Lamesha 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 Lamesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lamesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 470 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 Lamesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lamesha is Black at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and White (1.9%). 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 Lamesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lamesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (439 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 Lamesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lamesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lamesha 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 Lamesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lamesha 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 Lamesha 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 have Lamesha as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Lamesha, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.