Tamia
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "suppliant" or "date palm".
Name Census estimates that about 12,453 living Americans carry the first name Tamia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tamia today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tamia births was 2004 (833 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tamia. 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
12K
~ 1 in 27,524 Americans
Peak year
2004
833 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,107
Tracked since 1947
Popularity
Tamia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tamia from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 6,203 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
Tamia 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 Tamia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tamias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. New York, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Tamia, while New Mexico, Nevada, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 308 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tamia
The name Tamia is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the Arabic word "tamr," which means "date palm" or "date fruit." This suggests that the name may have been linked to the date palm tree, which played a significant role in the culture and economy of the Arab world.
In the Arab world, the date palm was a symbol of fertility, abundance, and hospitality. The name Tamia may have been given to children as a way to bestow upon them the qualities associated with this revered plant, such as resilience, strength, and prosperity.
The earliest recorded use of the name Tamia can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the Islamic Golden Age. It was a period when the Arab world experienced a cultural and scientific renaissance, and names with Arabic roots became more widespread.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Tamia was Tamia bint al-Muqtadir, a princess who lived in the 10th century CE during the Abbasid Caliphate. She was the daughter of the Abbasid caliph Al-Muqtadir and was known for her intelligence and knowledge of poetry.
Another notable figure named Tamia was Tamia al-Basri, a renowned Sufi mystic and scholar who lived in the 9th century CE. She was revered for her spiritual teachings and her contributions to the field of Islamic mysticism.
In the 12th century CE, Tamia al-Andalusiyya was a celebrated poet and writer from the Andalusian region of Spain. She was known for her eloquent and passionate love poetry, which explored themes of desire, longing, and the complexities of human emotions.
Tamia al-Ghazali, born in the 14th century CE, was a Sufi mystic and philosopher from the Persian region. She was known for her teachings on the spiritual path and her emphasis on the importance of self-knowledge and inner purification.
In more recent history, Tamia Hill, born in 1975, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actress. She has had a successful career in the R&B and pop music genres and has released several acclaimed albums, such as "Tamia" and "More."
The name Tamia has a rich and diverse history, spanning centuries and cultures. Its origins in the Arabic language and its association with the date palm tree have imbued it with symbolic meanings of resilience, abundance, and hospitality.
People
Tamia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tamia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tamia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tamia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,453 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tamia 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 27,524 US residents.
Is Tamia a common name?
We classify Tamia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,724 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tamia most popular?
The single biggest year for Tamia was 2004, when 833 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tamia is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tamia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tamia 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.