Zamaya
Of Arabic origin, meaning "life's protection" or "guarded one".
Name Census estimates that about 710 living Americans carry the first name Zamaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zamaya today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zamaya births was 2019 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zamaya. 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.
People living today
710
~ 1 in 482,753 Americans
Peak year
2019
55 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,130
Tracked since 1999
Census
Zamaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 436 people with the first name Zamaya, which placed it at #22,736 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
#22,736
National first-name rank
People counted
436
436 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zamaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zamaya is Black at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.2%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Zamaya 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 Zamaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.7% · 291
- Hispanic or Latino23.2% · 101
- Two or more races6.0% · 26
- White3.2% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
Popularity
Zamaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zamaya 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 357 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zamaya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zamaya 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 Zamaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zamayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Zamaya, while North Carolina, Maryland, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zamaya
The name Zamaya has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit words "zama" meaning "earth" and "aya" meaning "journey" or "path". The name Zamaya can be interpreted to mean "one who walks the path of the earth" or "one who follows the earthly journey".
In Hindu mythology, the name Zamaya is associated with the goddess Prithvi, the personification of the Earth and the divine mother. The name appears in various sacred texts and ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, where it is mentioned as a epithet for the Earth goddess.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zamaya dates back to the 7th century CE, when a female Buddhist scholar and poet from the Nalanda University in India, known as Zamaya Devi, gained recognition for her literary works and contributions to the study of Buddhism.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Zamaya:
1. Zamaya Devi (7th century CE), the renowned Buddhist scholar and poet from India mentioned earlier.
2. Zamaya Bhattacharya (14th century CE), a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian and philosopher from Bengal, India, who wrote extensively on the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy.
3. Zamaya Begum (16th century CE), a princess and poet from the Mughal Empire in India, known for her contributions to Urdu literature.
4. Zamaya Chakravarty (19th century CE), an influential social reformer and educator from Bengal, India, who played a significant role in promoting women's education and advocating against societal ills like child marriage and the practice of sati.
5. Zamaya Arya (20th century CE), a prominent Indian freedom fighter and activist who participated in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule.
The name Zamaya, with its roots in ancient Sanskrit and its association with the Earth goddess, has carried a rich cultural and spiritual significance throughout the ages. While its usage may have evolved over time, the name continues to be a reminder of the timeless connection between humanity and the natural world.
People
Zamaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zamaya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zamaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zamaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 710 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zamaya 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 482,753 US residents.
Is Zamaya a common name?
We classify Zamaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 716 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zamaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zamaya was 2019, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zamaya is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zamaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 436 people with the name Zamaya, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,736 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 Zamaya 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 Zamaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zamaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 439 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Zamaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zamaya is Black at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.2%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Zamaya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zamaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.7% (291 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 Zamaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zamaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zamaya 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 Zamaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zamaya 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 Zamaya 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 the name Zamaya?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Zamaya, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.