NameCensus.
Very Rare

Ramey

A diminutive of the Scottish surname meaning "from the broom fields".

Name Census estimates that about 894 living Americans carry the first name Ramey. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 57.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Ramey today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ramey births was 1975 (51 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Ramey. 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

  • Ramey started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.

People living today

894

~ 1 in 383,394 Americans

Peak year

1975

51 babies that year

Average age

36

years old

2022 SSA rank

#9,639

Tracked since 1913

Gender

Gender distribution for Ramey

Ramey is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 992 total registrations, 567 (57.2%) were male and 425 (42.8%) were female.

57% male
43% female
Male567 (57.2%)Female425 (42.8%)

Ramey as a male name

  • Ranked #9,639 in 2022
  • 8 male births in 2022
  • Peak: 1976 (36 births)

Ramey as a female name

  • Ranked #17,080 in 2024
  • 5 female births in 2024
  • Peak: 1975 (17 births)

Popularity

Ramey: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Ramey from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 226 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.

Babies born per year

MaleFemale
013263851192019401960198020002020

Decades

Ramey 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 Ramey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
1910s17017
1920s21021
1930s505
1940s17017
1950s40040
1960s58058
1970s15967226
1980s8550135
1990s7294166
2000s5896154
2010s2187108
2020s143145

Geography

Where Rameys live

Origin

Meaning and history of Ramey

The name Ramey is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, specifically derived from the root word "rami," which translates to "thrower" or "archer." This connection suggests that the name may have emerged during the early Islamic era, when archery and warfare played a significant role in the conquests and expansions of Arab civilizations.

During the medieval period, the name Ramey gained popularity across the Middle East and North Africa, regions heavily influenced by Islamic culture and the Arabic language. It is possible that early bearers of this name were skilled archers or warriors, earning them this moniker as a testament to their prowess on the battlefield.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ramey can be traced back to the 11th century, when a scholar and poet named Ramey al-Andalusi flourished in the city of Cordoba, which was then part of the Islamic Caliphate of Córdoba in present-day Spain. His works and contributions to Arabic literature during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization have been widely documented.

In the 13th century, the name Ramey gained further prominence with the birth of Ramey ibn Munadja, a renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher from Baghdad, Iraq. His writings on theology, logic, and metaphysics had a lasting impact on the intellectual discourse of his time.

Fast-forwarding to the 15th century, history records the existence of Ramey al-Maqdisi, a celebrated traveler and geographer from Jerusalem. His detailed accounts of his journeys across the Middle East and North Africa provided invaluable insights into the cultures, customs, and landscapes of the regions he explored.

Another notable figure bearing the name Ramey was Ramey al-Būrīnī, a 16th-century mathematician and astronomer from present-day Iran. His groundbreaking work on the measurement of the Earth's circumference and his contributions to the field of trigonometry earned him widespread recognition among scholars of his era.

In more recent times, the name Ramey has been carried by individuals such as Ramey El-Shami, a 20th-century Syrian poet and writer who played a significant role in the Arab literary renaissance. His poetic works, which often explored themes of nationalism and social justice, resonated deeply with readers across the Arab world.

While the name Ramey may have originated from the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has since transcended geographic and cultural boundaries, with variations and adoptions in various parts of the world. However, its roots and historical significance remain deeply rooted in the rich tapestry of Middle Eastern and Islamic history.

People

Ramey + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Ramey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.

Related

Other names starting with R

Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.

FAQ

Ramey: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Ramey?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 894 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ramey 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 383,394 US residents.

Is Ramey a common name?

We classify Ramey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 992 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Ramey most popular?

The single biggest year for Ramey was 1975, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ramey is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

Is Ramey a male name?

Yes, 57.2% of people registered as Ramey in the SSA data are male. 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.

N
Name Census
namecensus.com

There are 894 people

with the first name

Ramey

Look up any American name

Share this result