Kamyah
A female given name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 986 living Americans carry the first name Kamyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kamyah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kamyah births was 2008 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kamyah. 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
986
~ 1 in 347,621 Americans
Peak year
2008
65 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,490
Tracked since 1998
Census
Kamyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 636 people with the first name Kamyah, which placed it at #17,376 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
#17,376
National first-name rank
People counted
636
636 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kamyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kamyah is Black at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.4%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Kamyah 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 Kamyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.6% · 532
- Two or more races9.4% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 24
- White2.4% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 5
Popularity
Kamyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kamyah 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 447 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kamyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kamyah 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 Kamyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kamyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Ohio, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Kamyah, while Virginia, Texas, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kamyah
The name Kamyah is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, where it is derived from the word "kamia," meaning "perfection" or "completeness." This name is thought to have been in use since the early medieval period, particularly in regions where Arabic culture and language had a significant influence, such as the Middle East and parts of North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kamyah can be traced back to the 9th century, when it was mentioned in a collection of Arabic poetry. This suggests that the name held cultural significance during that time, potentially as a way to express a parent's wishes for their child to embody the qualities of perfection and completeness.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Kamyah. One such individual was Kamyah al-Andalusi, a renowned Islamic philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 12th century in present-day Spain. His contributions to the fields of logic and mathematics were highly influential during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization.
Another historical figure with the name Kamyah was Kamyah al-Baghdadi, a celebrated poet and literary scholar who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century. Her poetic works were widely acclaimed for their depth and eloquence, and she is regarded as one of the most prominent female poets of the Abbasid era.
In the realm of religion, Kamyah al-Sufiya was a revered Sufi mystic who lived in the 13th century in present-day Iran. She was known for her spiritual teachings and her dedication to the Sufi path, which emphasizes the pursuit of inner purification and closeness to the divine.
Kamyah ibn Abi al-Qasim, born in the 10th century, was a renowned physician and scholar who made significant contributions to the field of medicine. His works on anatomy, pharmacology, and medical ethics were widely studied and referenced by subsequent generations of medical practitioners.
While the name Kamyah has its roots in Arabic language and culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in recent times. However, it is important to note that this report focuses solely on the historical and linguistic origins of the first name Kamyah, without delving into its modern usage or contemporary statistics.
People
Kamyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kamyah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kamyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kamyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 986 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kamyah 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 347,621 US residents.
Is Kamyah a common name?
We classify Kamyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 996 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kamyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Kamyah was 2008, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kamyah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kamyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 636 people with the name Kamyah, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,376 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 Kamyah 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 Kamyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kamyah appears almost entirely female. Of the 635 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Kamyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kamyah is Black at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.4%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Kamyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kamyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.6% (532 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 Kamyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kamyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kamyah 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 Kamyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kamyah 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 Kamyah 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 share the name Kamyah?
Find out how many Americans are named Kamyah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.