Aminah
Feminine · “Trustworthy”
Aminah comes from one of the oldest word-families in the Semitic languages — the root behind Arabic *amīn*, "trustworthy," and behind the Hebrew word *amen*. It has been spoken in Mecca since before the seventh century, and today it is written in Arabic, Turkish, Hausa, Bosnian and Malay households alike. Said aloud it is three easy syllables with the stress in the middle, ah-MEE-nah, which most English speakers land on at first try.
How old is the name Aminah?
Aminah first appears in US birth records in 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Aminah is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 5,500 people named Aminah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Aminah most popular?
Aminah peaked in 2017, reaching #887 nationally. Today it ranks #1160, 273 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ʾ-m-n (Semitic root of trust and safety) to Aminah
The story of Aminah
The root ʾ-m-n runs through Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic with the sense of trust, firmness and safety; it gives Arabic amīn, "trustworthy," and the word amen used in three religions. Āminah bint Wahb, the mother of the Prophet Muhammad, carried the name in sixth-century Mecca, and her memory is the main reason it spread wherever Islam did. From there it traveled north into Turkish as Emine, into the Balkans as Amina and Emina, west across the Sahel — Queen Amina ruled the Hausa city-state of Zazzau in what is now northern Nigeria — and east into Malay and Indonesian usage, where the -h ending of Aminah is especially common. Each of those regions later sent families to the United States, which is why the name arrived here from several directions at once.
Meaning
Trustworthy, faithful — or safe, secure
Two closely related Arabic names share this English spelling. Amīnah (أمينة) is the feminine of amīn, "trustworthy, honest, faithful." Āminah (آمنة) means "safe, secure, at peace." Both come from the same root ʾ-m-n, so the two senses sit side by side rather than competing.
How the name formed
- ʾ-m-nSemitic root of trust and safety
- Amīn
- Āminah / Amīnah
- Amina
- Aminah
Related forms: آمنة / أمينة · Emine · Aminah · Amina · Emina · Ameena
Pronouncing Aminah
ah-MEE-nah
Stress on the middle syllable is the usual American and Arabic reading. Some families, following the Āminah spelling, say AH-mi-nah with the stress at the front and a shorter middle vowel; both are correct for their respective Arabic originals.
Nicknames for Aminah
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1965
- Most girls named
- 2017306 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #887reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −21.6%200 in 2025, from 255
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Aminah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- آمنة / أمينة in Arabic — same name
- Emine in Turkish — related form
- Aminah in Malay / Indonesian — same name
- Amina in Hausa / Swahili — spelling variant
- Emina in Bosnian — related form
- Ameena in Urdu — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Aminahs among us
people named Aminah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 8,036 born in 2025 was named Aminah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Aminah
- #1160
- Aminah on the 2025 chart
- #266
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Aminah went to 200 girls in 2025, but Amina, Aamina and Aaminah are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 1,213, which makes it the 266th most-given girls’ name of the year — 894 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 1,325 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 8,036 for Aminah itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ariane test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Aminah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ariane climbed just as high around 1978, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ariane's path sketches the road Aminah is walking now.
Aminah sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Aminah is headed
Aminah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Aminah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Aminah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Recognized across Arabic-speaking countries, Turkey, the Balkans, West Africa and Southeast Asia — the same name works in many languages without translation.
- Spelled the way it sounds for English readers, with no silent letters or unexpected vowels.
- Ready-made short forms in real use: Mina, Nina, Ami.
- A documented record stretching back to sixth-century Mecca, unbroken since.
- Familiar in shape to English ears through Amina, Amira and Mina, while remaining distinct.
- Amina, Ameena, Aminah and Ameenah all circulate in the US, so expect to spell it out fairly often — and to have the final -h quietly dropped by people who write it from hearing.
- Two stress patterns exist, ah-MEE-nah and AH-mi-nah, both legitimate. Deciding which one your family uses early saves a lifetime of gentle corrections.
- This is a name a child will most likely carry alone in her class and her school, which some children enjoy and others find tiring in the years when blending in matters most.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Aminah
Feminine · #1160 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Aminahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,500 people named Aminah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Aminah?
- Aminah is one of 4 recorded spellings. Amina is the more common one — 970 births in 2025 against 200 for Aminah.
- How popular is the name Aminah in 2025?
- Aminah ranks #1160 among US girl names in 2025, with 200 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Aminah?
- About 1 in every 8,036 US girls born in 2025 was named Aminah — 200 in all.
- Will my child share the name Aminah with classmates?
- Aminah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Aminah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ayat#1160 · Ayana#1160 · Heavenly#1163 · Raylee#1163 · Bria#1163 · Marlow#1163 · Essence#1163 · Dalary#1163
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Aminah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Aminah and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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