Sumaya
Of Arabic origin, meaning "highly praised" or "elevated one".
Name Census estimates that about 2,042 living Americans carry the first name Sumaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sumaya today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sumaya births was 2016 (109 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sumaya. 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 Sumaya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Sumaya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 167,852 Americans
Peak year
2016
109 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,645
Tracked since 1969
Census
Sumaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,214 people with the first name Sumaya, which placed it at #7,033 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
#7,033
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,214 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sumaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sumaya is Black at 53.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.4%). 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 Sumaya 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 Sumaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.2% · 1,177
- White19.8% · 439
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.4% · 340
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 133
- Two or more races5.6% · 123
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Sumaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sumaya from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 923 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sumaya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sumaya 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 Sumaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sumayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Minnesota, New York, California recorded the most babies named Sumaya, while Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 81 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sumaya
The name Sumaya is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "sama" meaning "elevated" or "high." It first appeared in the Middle Eastern region during the medieval Islamic era, around the 7th century AD.
The name Sumaya holds significant historical importance in Islamic tradition. It was the name of Sumaya bint Khayyat, a revered figure who lived in Mecca during the time of Prophet Muhammad. She was one of the earliest converts to Islam and endured persecution and torture for her faith, ultimately becoming known as the first martyr in Islamic history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sumaya dates back to the 7th century AD, associated with Sumaya bint Khayyat herself. Since then, the name has been widely used among Muslim communities, particularly in the Arab world and regions with strong cultural ties to the Middle East.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sumaya. One example is Sumaya al-Muhaydali (1924-2014), a renowned Palestinian poet and activist who played a significant role in advocating for Palestinian rights and cultural preservation.
Another prominent figure is Sumaya Farhat-Naser (born 1929), a Palestinian diplomat and the first woman to serve as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador from an Arab country. She dedicated her life to promoting peace, human rights, and gender equality.
In the realm of literature, Sumaya Rayes (born 1947) is a celebrated Lebanese author and poet known for her works exploring themes of identity, displacement, and the experiences of women in the Arab world.
Sumaya al-Khashab (1941-2011) was an influential Saudi Arabian academic and writer who pioneered women's education and advocated for women's rights in Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, Sumaya Samaha (born 1996) is a contemporary Syrian-American actress and activist who has used her platform to raise awareness about the ongoing conflict in Syria and the plight of refugees.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Sumaya, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural and social narratives associated with this name.
People
Sumaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sumaya 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
Sumaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sumaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,042 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sumaya 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 167,852 US residents.
Is Sumaya a common name?
We classify Sumaya as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,066 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sumaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Sumaya was 2016, when 109 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sumaya is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sumaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,214 people with the name Sumaya, or 0.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,033 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 Sumaya 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 Sumaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sumaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,223 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Sumaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sumaya is Black at 53.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.4%). 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 Sumaya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sumaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.2% (1,177 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 Sumaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sumaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sumaya 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 Sumaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sumaya 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 Sumaya 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 Sumaya as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.