Shamia
Feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "high" or "lofty".
Name Census estimates that about 1,417 living Americans carry the first name Shamia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shamia today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shamia births was 1999 (74 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shamia. 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 Shamia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 241,887 Americans
Peak year
1999
74 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,131
Tracked since 1973
Census
Shamia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,225 people with the first name Shamia, which placed it at #10,729 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
#10,729
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,225 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shamia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamia is Black at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.1%) and Two or More Races (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 Shamia 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 Shamia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.4% · 1,058
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 50
- Two or more races3.8% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 33
- White2.6% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Popularity
Shamia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shamia from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 453 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shamia 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 Shamia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shamias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Shamia, while Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shamia
The name Shamia is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with its roots tracing back to ancient times in the Middle Eastern region. The name is derived from the Arabic word "shams," which means sun, and it is often associated with radiance, warmth, and brilliance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shamia can be found in ancient Arabic poetry and literature, where it was used to describe the beauty and splendor of the sun. The name was also mentioned in various Islamic texts and manuscripts, highlighting its cultural and religious significance in the Arab world.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Shamia. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Shamia al-Qurayshi (born around 670 CE), a renowned Arab poet and scholar who lived during the Umayyad Caliphate. Her poems and writings were widely celebrated for their lyrical beauty and profound wisdom.
Another prominent figure was Shamia bint al-Hasan (776 CE - 846 CE), a renowned Arabic scholar and theologian from the Abbasid era. She was highly respected for her deep knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the intellectual discourse of her time.
In the 12th century, Shamia al-Andalusi (1135 CE - 1198 CE) was a celebrated Arabic poet and writer from the Andalusian region of Spain. Her works were widely admired for their elegance and depth, and she was considered a literary icon during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization in Spain.
During the Ottoman Empire, Shamia Efendi (1554 CE - 1623 CE) was a prominent Ottoman calligrapher and artist. Her calligraphic works were highly sought after and adorned the walls of mosques and palaces, showcasing her exceptional skill and artistry.
In more recent history, Shamia Mostafa (1924 CE - 2012 CE) was an influential Egyptian writer and feminist activist. She played a pivotal role in advocating for women's rights and empowerment in the Arab world, and her literary works explored themes of social justice and gender equality.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Shamia, each leaving their mark in various fields such as literature, scholarship, art, and activism.
People
Shamia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shamia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shamia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shamia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,417 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shamia 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 241,887 US residents.
Is Shamia a common name?
We classify Shamia as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,468 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shamia most popular?
The single biggest year for Shamia was 1999, when 74 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shamia is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shamia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,225 people with the name Shamia, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,729 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 Shamia 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 Shamia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shamia appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,220 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 Shamia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamia is Black at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.1%) and Two or More Races (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 Shamia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shamia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.4% (1,058 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 Shamia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shamia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shamia 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 Shamia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shamia 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 Shamia 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 Shamia?
Find out how many people share the name Shamia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.