Lamiya
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "woman of exquisite spiritual beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 750 living Americans carry the first name Lamiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lamiya today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lamiya births was 2011 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lamiya. 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 Lamiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
750
~ 1 in 457,006 Americans
Peak year
2011
51 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,251
Tracked since 1990
Census
Lamiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 575 people with the first name Lamiya, which placed it at #18,673 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
#18,673
National first-name rank
People counted
575
575 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lamiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lamiya is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.7%) and White (6.3%). 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 Lamiya 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 Lamiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.0% · 408
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.7% · 73
- White6.3% · 36
- Two or more races6.3% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Lamiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lamiya 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 309 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
Lamiya 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 Lamiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lamiyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Lamiya, while Ohio, Mississippi, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lamiya
The name Lamiya is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, derived from the root word "lam," which means "to unite" or "to bring together." It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries within the Arab world and the broader Islamic cultural sphere.
During the medieval period, the name gained prominence through its association with several notable figures in Islamic history and literature. One such figure was Lamiya al-Ajam, a renowned 7th-century Arab poetess whose verses were celebrated for their beauty and depth of emotion. Her poetic works were widely circulated and admired, contributing to the popularity of her name.
Another significant historical reference to the name Lamiya can be found in the Arabian Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales and stories. In one of the tales, a character named Lamiya plays a pivotal role, further cementing the name's place in the region's cultural tapestry.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Lamiya can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the early years of the Islamic era. Over the centuries, the name has been borne by several notable individuals, including:
1. Lamiya al-Zubair (c. 630 CE – 690 CE), a prominent Islamic scholar and teacher from Medina, renowned for her knowledge of hadith (prophetic traditions).
2. Lamiya bint Malik al-Bahrani (c. 1050 CE – 1120 CE), a Persian poet and scholar known for her contributions to Islamic mysticism and Sufism.
3. Lamiya al-Qurayshi (c. 1200 CE – 1280 CE), a celebrated calligrapher and artist from the Abbasid period, whose works were highly sought after by patrons of the arts.
4. Lamiya al-Arjiyah (c. 1450 CE – 1520 CE), an influential Islamic jurist and legal scholar from the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
5. Lamiya Bint Ahmad al-Suwaidi (1777 CE – 1851 CE), a renowned Emirati poet and literary figure, whose works celebrated the beauty of the Arabian Peninsula and its cultural heritage.
The name Lamiya has transcended its Arabic roots and has been adopted by various cultures and communities around the world, each bringing their own interpretations and variations to its spelling and pronunciation. Throughout its rich history, the name has carried connotations of unity, harmony, and artistic expression, making it a cherished and meaningful choice for parents seeking to imbue their children with these qualities.
People
Lamiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lamiya 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
Lamiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lamiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 750 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lamiya 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 457,006 US residents.
Is Lamiya a common name?
We classify Lamiya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 759 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lamiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Lamiya was 2011, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lamiya 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 Lamiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 575 people with the name Lamiya, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,673 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 Lamiya 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 Lamiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lamiya appears almost entirely female. Of the 570 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Lamiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lamiya is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.7%) and White (6.3%). 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 Lamiya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lamiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.0% (408 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 Lamiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lamiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lamiya 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 Lamiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lamiya 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 Lamiya 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 are named Lamiya?
Want to know how many people share the name Lamiya? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.