Shamyia
Variant spelling of Shamiya, an Arabic feminine name meaning "noble".
Name Census estimates that about 343 living Americans carry the first name Shamyia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shamyia today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shamyia births was 2002 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shamyia. 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
343
~ 1 in 999,284 Americans
Peak year
2002
30 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,713
Tracked since 1989
Census
Shamyia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 313 people with the first name Shamyia, which placed it at #28,614 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
#28,614
National first-name rank
People counted
313
313 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shamyia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamyia is Black at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (1.3%). 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 Shamyia 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 Shamyia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.7% · 290
- Two or more races4.2% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 4
- White1.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 3
Popularity
Shamyia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shamyia from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 202 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
Shamyia 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 Shamyia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shamyias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shamyia
The name Shamyia is a relatively modern invention, likely derived from the Arabic name Shamiya, which itself is a feminine form of the Arabic word "shami" meaning "from Syria" or "Syrian." This suggests that the name Shamyia may have originated in the Arabic-speaking regions of the Middle East, possibly Syria itself or neighboring countries with significant Arab populations.
While the exact origins of the name Shamyia are uncertain, it is possible that it was inspired by ancient Arabic names or words related to Syria or the Levant region. However, there are no clear historical records or references to the name Shamyia in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical documents from the region.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Shamyia likely date back to the late 20th century or early 21st century, as it appears to be a relatively modern name creation. There are no widely known historical figures or famous individuals from earlier periods who bore the name Shamyia.
However, there are a few notable people with the first name Shamyia in more recent times. One example is Shamyia Johnson, an American singer and actress who has appeared in various stage productions and television shows. Another is Shamyia Ponder, an American basketball player who played for the University of South Carolina's women's basketball team in the early 2010s.
Shamyia Pinkney is an American artist and illustrator known for her work in children's literature and graphic design. Shamyia Concha is a former professional boxer from the United States who competed in the lightweight division in the early 2000s. Shamyia Williams is an American entrepreneur and business owner who has founded several successful companies in the fashion and beauty industries.
It is worth noting that the name Shamyia, while not necessarily common, has gained some popularity in certain regions, particularly in parts of the United States and possibly other countries with significant Arab or Middle Eastern communities. However, comprehensive historical data or records on the prevalence and usage of the name across different time periods and cultures are limited.
People
Shamyia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shamyia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shamyia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shamyia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 343 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shamyia 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 999,284 US residents.
Is Shamyia a common name?
We classify Shamyia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 350 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shamyia most popular?
The single biggest year for Shamyia was 2002, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shamyia is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shamyia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 313 people with the name Shamyia, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,614 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 Shamyia 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 Shamyia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shamyia appears almost entirely female. Of the 308 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Shamyia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamyia is Black at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (1.3%). 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 Shamyia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shamyia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.7% (290 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 Shamyia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shamyia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shamyia 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 Shamyia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shamyia 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 Shamyia 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 Americans are named Shamyia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.