Amaiyah
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly from Arabic, meaning "protected by God".
Name Census estimates that about 973 living Americans carry the first name Amaiyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Amaiyah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amaiyah births was 2013 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amaiyah. 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 Amaiyah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
973
~ 1 in 352,266 Americans
Peak year
2013
67 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,380
Tracked since 1999
Census
Amaiyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 564 people with the first name Amaiyah, which placed it at #18,965 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
#18,965
National first-name rank
People counted
564
564 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Amaiyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amaiyah is Black at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.1%) and Two or More Races (16.0%). 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 Amaiyah 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 Amaiyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.3% · 267
- Hispanic or Latino27.1% · 153
- Two or more races16.0% · 90
- White7.4% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Amaiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amaiyah 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 460 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Amaiyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Amaiyah 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 Amaiyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Amaiyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Amaiyah, while Ohio, Indiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Amaiyah
The name Amaiyah is a modern invention, likely derived from the Arabic name Amaya, meaning "long-lived" or "eternal." However, there is no clear historical record or cultural origin for the specific spelling "Amaiyah."
While the name Amaya has roots in Arabic culture, the variation Amaiyah appears to be a recently coined name, possibly inspired by the trend of adding unique spellings or combining existing names to create new, distinct monikers.
There are no known historical references or mentions of the name Amaiyah in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. The earliest recorded examples of this particular spelling are likely from the late 20th or early 21st century.
Due to its modern nature, there are no notable historical figures or famous individuals with the name Amaiyah. However, as a relatively new name, it has the potential to gain prominence and significance in the future.
It is important to note that while the name Amaiyah may not have a rich historical background, names are constantly evolving, and new variations and combinations are continuously being introduced into various cultures and societies. The lack of a documented past does not diminish the value or significance of a name, as it represents the creativity and personal preferences of those who choose to bestow it upon their children.
People
Amaiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amaiyah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Amaiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amaiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 973 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amaiyah 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 352,266 US residents.
Is Amaiyah a common name?
We classify Amaiyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 982 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amaiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Amaiyah was 2013, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amaiyah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Amaiyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 564 people with the name Amaiyah, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,965 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 Amaiyah 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 Amaiyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Amaiyah appears almost entirely female. Of the 562 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 Amaiyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amaiyah is Black at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.1%) and Two or More Races (16.0%). 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 Amaiyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Amaiyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (267 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 Amaiyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Amaiyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Amaiyah 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 Amaiyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Amaiyah 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 Amaiyah 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 the name Amaiyah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.