Zamya
A feminine name of Russian origin meaning "frost" or "winter".
Name Census estimates that about 1,173 living Americans carry the first name Zamya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zamya today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zamya births was 2009 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zamya. 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.
Key insights
- • Zamya 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 292,203 Americans
Peak year
2009
82 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,892
Tracked since 1998
Census
Zamya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 749 people with the first name Zamya, which placed it at #15,378 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
#15,378
National first-name rank
People counted
749
749 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zamya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zamya is Black at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.0%) and Hispanic (6.9%). 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 Zamya 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 Zamya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.2% · 616
- Two or more races8.0% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 52
- White2.0% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Zamya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zamya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 511 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
Zamya 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 Zamya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zamyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Georgia, North Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Zamya, while Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zamya
The name Zamya is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sumerian civilization, which flourished in Mesopotamia between the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE. It is derived from the Sumerian word "zamyu," which means "precious stone" or "gem." The Sumerians were known for their advanced knowledge of gemstones and their use in jewelry-making and decorative arts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zamya can be found in a cuneiform tablet from the city of Ur, dating back to approximately 2300 BCE. This tablet contains a list of names, including Zamya-ili, which translates to "Zamya is my god." This suggests that the name may have held religious significance in ancient Sumerian society.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Zamya. One such person was Zamya of Lagash, a high priestess who lived in the city-state of Lagash (present-day Iraq) during the 24th century BCE. She was renowned for her wisdom and her role in the religious ceremonies of the time.
Another prominent figure was Zamya the Scribe, who lived in the city of Nippur (also in present-day Iraq) around 2000 BCE. He was a skilled calligrapher and is credited with transcribing and preserving several important literary works from the Sumerian civilization.
In the 6th century BCE, there was a Persian prince named Zamya, who was a member of the Achaemenid dynasty. He is mentioned in the inscriptions of King Darius I, where he is referred to as a satrap (governor) of one of the provinces of the Persian Empire.
During the Hellenistic period, a Greek philosopher named Zamya of Miletus lived in the 5th century BCE. He was a student of the renowned philosopher Anaxagoras and is said to have written several treatises on metaphysics and cosmology, although none of his works have survived to the present day.
In more recent times, there was an Italian Renaissance painter named Zamya Fiorentini, who lived in the 15th century CE. He was known for his intricate frescoes and religious paintings, some of which can still be seen in churches and museums across Italy.
It is worth noting that while the name Zamya has its roots in ancient Sumerian culture, it has been adopted and adapted by various other civilizations and cultures throughout history, each adding their own unique interpretations and meanings to this ancient name.
People
Zamya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zamya 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
Zamya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zamya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,173 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zamya 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 292,203 US residents.
Is Zamya a common name?
We classify Zamya 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, 1,185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zamya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zamya was 2009, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zamya 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 Zamya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 749 people with the name Zamya, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,378 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 Zamya 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 Zamya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zamya leans strongly female. 750 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 8 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Zamya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zamya is Black at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.0%) and Hispanic (6.9%). 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 Zamya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zamya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.2% (616 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 Zamya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zamya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zamya 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 Zamya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zamya 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 Zamya 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 Zamya as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.