Ramya
A feminine name of Indian origin meaning "divine beauty" or "charming".
Name Census estimates that about 1,176 living Americans carry the first name Ramya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ramya today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ramya births was 2008 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ramya. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 291,458 Americans
Peak year
2008
71 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,388
Tracked since 1981
Popularity
Ramya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ramya from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 556 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
Ramya 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 Ramya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ramyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Ramya, while Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ramya
The name Ramya has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient language of India. It is derived from the word "ramya," which means "charming," "lovely," or "beautiful." This name is believed to have been in use since ancient times, although the exact time period is uncertain.
In Hindu mythology, Ramya is one of the names of the goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu and the goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity. The name is also associated with the Ramayana, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, which tells the story of Lord Rama, an avatar of Lord Vishnu.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Ramya can be found in the Mahabharata, another ancient Sanskrit epic. In the Mahabharata, Ramya is mentioned as the name of a princess who was the daughter of King Virata.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Ramya. One of the earliest known was Ramya, a Sanskrit poetess and scholar who lived in the 7th century CE during the reign of the Chalukya dynasty in southern India. She is known for her work "Ramyasataka," a collection of Sanskrit verses.
Another notable figure with the name Ramya was Ramya Krishnan, an Indian actress who has appeared in numerous Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films since the 1980s. She is widely recognized for her performances in films such as "Padayappa" and "Baahubali: The Beginning."
Ramya Vijayan is a contemporary Indian author and columnist who has written several novels and short stories in Malayalam and English. Her works often explore themes of feminism, social issues, and the complexities of modern life.
Ramya Krishnan, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, is known for her contributions to Bharatanatyam, one of the major classical dance forms of India. She has performed and taught extensively both in India and internationally.
Ramya Raghavan is an Indian computer scientist and engineer who has made significant contributions to the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. She is currently a researcher at Google Brain and has published numerous papers on topics such as deep learning and natural language processing.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Ramya throughout history. The name continues to be popular in various parts of India and among the Indian diaspora worldwide, carrying with it the meaning of charm, beauty, and grace.
People
Ramya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ramya 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
Ramya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ramya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,176 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ramya 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 291,458 US residents.
Is Ramya a common name?
We classify Ramya as "Rare". It ranks above 91.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,194 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ramya most popular?
The single biggest year for Ramya was 2008, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ramya is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ramya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ramya 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.