Lamaya
A feminine name of Arabic origin, meaning "night traveler" or "born at night".
Name Census estimates that about 692 living Americans carry the first name Lamaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lamaya today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lamaya births was 2008 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lamaya. 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 Lamaya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
692
~ 1 in 495,310 Americans
Peak year
2008
43 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,192
Tracked since 1979
Census
Lamaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 570 people with the first name Lamaya, which placed it at #18,805 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
#18,805
National first-name rank
People counted
570
570 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lamaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lamaya is Black at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). 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 Lamaya 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 Lamaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.3% · 475
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 39
- Two or more races6.8% · 39
- White1.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Lamaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lamaya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 312 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
Lamaya 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 Lamaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lamayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Illinois, Florida recorded the most babies named Lamaya, while Texas, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lamaya
The name Lamaya has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, which was prevalent in the Indian subcontinent during the early centuries of the common era. It is derived from the Sanskrit words "lama," meaning "divine," and "ya," which is a feminine suffix. The name thus translates to "the divine one" or "the celestial goddess."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lamaya can be found in the Puranas, which are ancient Hindu texts that recount the histories of the universe and the various deities revered in the Hindu tradition. In the Shiva Purana, Lamaya is mentioned as an epithet for the goddess Parvati, who is the consort of Lord Shiva.
Throughout the centuries, the name Lamaya has been associated with several notable figures in Indian history and literature. One such figure is Lamaya Devi, a 16th-century Rajput princess who was renowned for her beauty, intellect, and courage. She played a pivotal role in defending her kingdom against invading forces and is celebrated in many folk tales and ballads.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Lamaya Bai, a 19th-century courtesan and poet from the princely state of Lucknow. Her poetry, which often explored themes of love, longing, and spirituality, is still widely studied and appreciated in the Indian literary canon.
In more recent times, Lamaya Goswami was a renowned classical dancer and choreographer from the 20th century. She was instrumental in reviving and popularizing the Odissi dance form, which originated in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. Goswami's contributions to the preservation of Indian cultural heritage were widely recognized, and she received numerous honors and accolades during her lifetime.
Beyond the Indian subcontinent, the name Lamaya has also found resonance in other parts of the world. Lamaya Khaireddin was a 19th-century Syrian activist and educator who advocated for women's rights and established several schools for girls in the region. Her efforts paved the way for greater educational opportunities for women in the Middle East.
Lamaya Blaise was a 20th-century French-Canadian author and philosopher whose works explored existentialism and the human condition. Her seminal work, "The Unnamable," is considered a cornerstone of experimental literature and has influenced generations of writers and thinkers.
People
Lamaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lamaya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lamaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lamaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 692 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lamaya 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 495,310 US residents.
Is Lamaya a common name?
We classify Lamaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 701 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lamaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Lamaya was 2008, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lamaya is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lamaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 570 people with the name Lamaya, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,805 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 Lamaya 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 Lamaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lamaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 570 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 Lamaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lamaya is Black at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). 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 Lamaya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lamaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (475 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 Lamaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lamaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lamaya 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 Lamaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lamaya 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 Lamaya 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 Lamaya as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Lamaya, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.