Sumaiyah
An Arabic feminine name meaning "modest" or "satisfied".
Name Census estimates that about 320 living Americans carry the first name Sumaiyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sumaiyah today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sumaiyah births was 2010 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sumaiyah. 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 Sumaiyah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
320
~ 1 in 1,071,107 Americans
Peak year
2010
21 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,453
Tracked since 1996
Census
Sumaiyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 300 people with the first name Sumaiyah, which placed it at #29,484 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
#29,484
National first-name rank
People counted
300
300 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
44.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sumaiyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sumaiyah is Black at 44.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (37.7%) and White (9.3%). 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 Sumaiyah 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 Sumaiyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American44.0% · 132
- Asian and Pacific Islander37.7% · 113
- White9.3% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 15
- Two or more races4.0% · 12
Popularity
Sumaiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sumaiyah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 152 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
Sumaiyah 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 Sumaiyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sumaiyahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sumaiyah
The name Sumaiyah originates from the Arabic language and has a rich cultural and historical significance. It is derived from the Arabic word "sumayya," which means "high-ranking" or "elevated." The name is rooted in the pre-Islamic era of the Arabian Peninsula.
Sumaiyah gained prominence in early Islamic history as it was the name of Sumayya bint Khabbat, a woman revered as one of the earliest believers in Islam and the first martyr in the faith. She endured severe persecution and torture for her beliefs at the hands of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca but remained steadfast in her faith until her death around 615 CE.
The name Sumaiyah is mentioned in various Islamic texts, including the Qur'an and Hadith, which are the primary sources of Islamic teachings and the biographical accounts of the Prophet Muhammad's life. Her story serves as an inspiration for resilience and unwavering faith in the face of adversity.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sumaiyah can be found in the historical accounts of the early Muslim community in Mecca. Sumayya bint Khabbat, the aforementioned first martyr of Islam, was born in Mecca around 550 CE and embraced the new faith preached by Prophet Muhammad.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sumaiyah. Here are five examples:
1. Sumaiyah al-Muhtadiyah (born around 612 CE), one of the earliest female converts to Islam and a companion of Prophet Muhammad.
2. Sumaiyah bint Husayn (born in 636 CE), a descendant of Prophet Muhammad and a renowned scholar of Hadith.
3. Sumaiyah al-Malikah (born in 1212 CE), a prominent Muslim scholar and poet from Seville, Spain, during the Almohad Caliphate.
4. Sumaiyah al-Yazdiyah (born around 1550 CE), a renowned Sufi mystic and poet from Yazd, Persia (present-day Iran).
5. Sumaiyah Toukan (born in 1925), a Palestinian writer and activist known for her contributions to Palestinian literature and advocacy for women's rights.
The name Sumaiyah has been carried across generations and cultures, serving as a testament to the rich heritage and significance it holds within the Islamic tradition and Arabic-speaking communities.
People
Sumaiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sumaiyah 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
Sumaiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sumaiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sumaiyah 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 1,071,107 US residents.
Is Sumaiyah a common name?
We classify Sumaiyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 324 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sumaiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Sumaiyah was 2010, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sumaiyah is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sumaiyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 300 people with the name Sumaiyah, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,484 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 Sumaiyah 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 Sumaiyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sumaiyah leans strongly female. 294 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 6 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Sumaiyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sumaiyah is Black at 44.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (37.7%) and White (9.3%). 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 Sumaiyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sumaiyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.0% (132 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 Sumaiyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sumaiyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sumaiyah 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 Sumaiyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sumaiyah 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 Sumaiyah 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 Sumaiyah?
Find out how many Americans are named Sumaiyah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.