Zamiya
Of Arabic origin, meaning "companion", "friend", or "one who accompanies".
Name Census estimates that about 713 living Americans carry the first name Zamiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zamiya today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zamiya births was 2012 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zamiya. 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
713
~ 1 in 480,721 Americans
Peak year
2012
54 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,134
Tracked since 2000
Popularity
Zamiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zamiya from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 362 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zamiya 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 Zamiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zamiyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. North Carolina, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Zamiya, while Michigan, Virginia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zamiya
The name Zamiya is believed to have originated in the Middle East, derived from the Arabic word "zamiya," which means "companion" or "friend." The earliest records of this name date back to the 8th century CE, during the Islamic Golden Age.
In ancient Arabic literature, Zamiya was sometimes used as a poetic term to describe a close confidant or a beloved companion. This usage can be found in some of the works of renowned poets and scholars from that era, such as Abu Nuwas and Al-Mutanabbi.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Zamiya was Zamiya ibn Amir al-Bahili, a prominent poet and philosopher who lived in the 9th century CE in present-day Iraq. His works were widely celebrated for their eloquence and depth, and he was known for his contributions to the field of Arabic literature.
Another notable figure was Zamiya al-Ishbili, a renowned mathematician and astronomer from 12th century Seville, Spain. She was highly respected for her groundbreaking work in trigonometry and her contributions to the study of celestial movements.
In the 13th century, Zamiya ibn Abdallah al-Qurtubi was a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Cordoba, Spain. His writings on Islamic jurisprudence and theology were widely influential during his time and continue to be studied by scholars today.
During the Ottoman Empire, Zamiya Hatun was a powerful and influential woman who lived in the 16th century. She was a prominent figure in the imperial court and is known for her philanthropic efforts, supporting the construction of mosques, schools, and other important institutions.
Zamiya al-Ansari, born in 1845 in present-day Lebanon, was a pioneering educator and women's rights activist. She founded several schools for girls and worked tirelessly to promote education and empower women in the region, leaving a lasting impact on the society of her time.
People
Zamiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zamiya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zamiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zamiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 713 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zamiya 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 480,721 US residents.
Is Zamiya a common name?
We classify Zamiya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 720 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zamiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zamiya was 2012, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zamiya is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Zamiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zamiya 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.