Jamia
Derived from the Arabic word "jami'ah" meaning "university" or "gathering place for learning".
Name Census estimates that about 4,345 living Americans carry the first name Jamia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jamia today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamia births was 2003 (227 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamia. 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 Jamia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.3K
~ 1 in 78,885 Americans
Peak year
2003
227 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2003 SSA rank
#4,228
Tracked since 1954
Census
Jamia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,441 people with the first name Jamia, which placed it at #5,098 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
#5,098
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,441 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jamia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamia is Black at 86.1%. The next largest groups are White (5.8%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Jamia 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 Jamia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.1% · 2,962
- White5.8% · 198
- Two or more races4.2% · 146
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 98
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Jamia
Out of the 4,465 babies given the name Jamia since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Jamia as a male name
- Ranked #10,107 in 2003
- 6 male births in 2003
- Peak: 2003 (6 births)
Jamia as a female name
- Ranked #4,228 in 2024
- 34 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (221 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamia leans strongly female. 3,379 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 58 male bearers (1.7%).
Popularity
Jamia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamia from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,752 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
Jamia 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 Jamia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jamias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Illinois, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Jamia, while Nebraska, Kentucky, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 111 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamia
The name Jamia has its roots in Arabic culture and language. It is a feminine name derived from the Arabic word "jami'ah," which means "university" or "place of gathering." The name's origin can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the rise of Islamic civilization in the Middle East.
In Arabic, the word "jami'ah" also carries the connotation of a place where knowledge is disseminated and acquired. As such, the name Jamia has been historically associated with the pursuit of education, learning, and intellectual growth. It was a popular name choice among Muslim families who valued education and the acquisition of knowledge.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jamia can be found in the works of renowned Islamic scholars and historians from the medieval period. For example, the 9th-century Islamic scholar, Al-Jahiz (776-869 CE), mentioned the name in his writings, indicating its usage during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jamia. One such figure is Jamia Millia Islamia (born in 1920), an influential Indian Muslim educator and activist who played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India.
Another prominent figure with the name Jamia is Jamia Bowen (born in 1984), an American professional basketball player who has played in the WNBA and overseas. Her name exemplifies the name's popularity and usage beyond the Arab world.
In the realm of literature, Jamia Shabnam (born in 1935) was a renowned Urdu poet and writer from Pakistan. Her works have made significant contributions to the literary landscape of the region.
Jamia Rizvi (born in 1981) is an Australian author, commentator, and advocate for gender equality. Her book "Not Just Lucky" explores the experiences of migrant women in Australia and has garnered critical acclaim.
The name Jamia has also been used by individuals in the field of academia and research. For example, Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi, India, was founded in 1989 and named after its founder, Hakim Mohammed Said, whose given name was Jamia.
While the name Jamia has its roots in Arabic culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and has been embraced by diverse communities worldwide, reflecting the universal values of education, knowledge, and intellectual pursuits that it represents.
People
Jamia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jamia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,345 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamia 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 78,885 US residents.
Is Jamia a common name?
We classify Jamia as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,465 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamia most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamia was 2003, when 227 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamia is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jamia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,441 people with the name Jamia, or 1.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,098 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 Jamia 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 Jamia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamia leans strongly female. 3,379 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 58 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Jamia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamia is Black at 86.1%. The next largest groups are White (5.8%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Jamia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jamia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.1% (2,962 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 Jamia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jamia a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Jamia 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 Jamia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jamia 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 Jamia 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 Jamia 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.