Ramah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "exalted" or "lofty."
Name Census estimates that about 121 living Americans carry the first name Ramah. It is a predominantly female name (93.5% of registrations). The average person named Ramah today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ramah births was 1926 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ramah. 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 Ramah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
121
~ 1 in 2,832,680 Americans
Peak year
1926
12 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2022 SSA rank
#8,812
Tracked since 1911
Census
Ramah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 296 people with the first name Ramah, which placed it at #29,744 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
#29,744
National first-name rank
People counted
296
296 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ramah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramah is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Ramah 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 Ramah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.6% · 206
- Black or African American18.6% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 15
- Two or more races3.4% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Ramah
Ramah leans heavily female at 93.5% of total registrations, but 18 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ramah as a male name
- Ranked #10,600 in 2022
- 7 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2022 (7 births)
Ramah as a female name
- Ranked #8,812 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1926 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ramah on both sides of the split. Of the 304 people counted with this name, 63 were male (20.7%) and 241 were female (79.3%).
Popularity
Ramah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ramah from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 67 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Ramah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ramah 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 Ramah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ramah
The name Ramah has its origins in Hebrew and Arabic, tracing back to ancient times. In Hebrew, the word "ramah" means "high place" or "elevated area," often referring to a sacred site or a place of worship. It is derived from the root "ram," which means "to be high" or "to lift up."
One of the earliest mentions of the name Ramah can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where it refers to a town located in the territory of Benjamin. The book of Judges mentions Ramah as the birthplace of the prophet Samuel, and it is also mentioned in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as a place where the Israelites gathered after the Babylonian exile.
In the Islamic tradition, the name Ramah is often associated with the concept of mercy and compassion. It is believed to be derived from the Arabic root "rahima," which means "to have mercy" or "to show compassion." This connection may have influenced the popularity of the name among Arabic-speaking communities.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Ramah. One of the earliest recorded examples is Ramah ibn Zanbah, a 7th-century Arab military leader who played a significant role in the Muslim conquests of the Sasanian Empire. Another prominent figure was Ramah al-Mutanabbi, a 10th-century Arab poet widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Arabic language.
In the religious sphere, Ramah ibn Shaddad was a 13th-century Islamic scholar and jurist from Syria, known for his contributions to the study of Islamic jurisprudence. The name Ramah also appears in biblical accounts, including Ramah, the daughter of Ishmael and the wife of Esau, as mentioned in the book of Genesis.
In more recent times, notable individuals with the name Ramah include Ramah Navine, an Indian classical vocalist and Padma Shri recipient, and Ramah Krishnan, an American author and educator known for her work on diversity and inclusion.
It is important to note that while the name Ramah has been used across various cultures and time periods, its exact meaning and significance may vary depending on the context and cultural traditions in which it is used.
People
Ramah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ramah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ramah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ramah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ramah 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 2,832,680 US residents.
Is Ramah a common name?
We classify Ramah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 278 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ramah most popular?
The single biggest year for Ramah was 1926, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ramah is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ramah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 296 people with the name Ramah, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,744 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 Ramah 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 Ramah?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ramah on both sides of the split. Of the 304 people counted with this name, 63 were male (20.7%) and 241 were female (79.3%). 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 Ramah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramah is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Ramah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ramah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.6% (206 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 Ramah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ramah a female name?
Yes, 93.5% of people registered as Ramah 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 Ramah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ramah 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 Ramah 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 Americans are named Ramah?
See how many people share the name Ramah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.