Kamiah
Feminine
Kamiah belongs to the modern American -iah family, and it shares its spelling with a small town in Idaho whose name comes from the Nez Perce language. The two are not connected.
How old is the name Kamiah?
Kamiah first appears in US birth records in 1990 — 35 years ago. The typical Kamiah alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 1,800 people named Kamiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kamiah most popular?
Kamiah peaked in 2016, reaching #1704 nationally. Today it ranks #3342, 1,638 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kamiah
Ours, offered as ours. Kamiah is a good example of a modern name that happens to land on a real word from an unrelated language — the Nez Perce place name in Idaho is genuine and older, and the American given name almost certainly did not come from it. It is worth separating those clearly rather than letting the coincidence pass for an origin. What the name actually has behind it is the Ka- opening and the -iah ending, two of the most productive pieces in American naming of the last thirty years.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source is established for the given name. The Idaho town of Kamiah takes its name from a Nez Perce word connected to the making of rope from hemp; the given name is not documented as coming from it. The Ka- opening and -iah ending of modern American naming are the likelier source.
Pronouncing Kamiah
kuh-MY-ah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Some families say KAM-ee-ah.
Nicknames for Kamiah
Moderate
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
- 1990
- Most girls named
- 2016125 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1704reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- +17.9%46 in 2025, from 39
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.
Kamiah in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, California.
Kamiahs among us
people named Kamiah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 34,941 born in 2025 was named Kamiah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kamiah
- #3342
- Kamiah on the 2025 chart
- #442
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kamiah went to 46 girls in 2025, but Kamiyah, Kamiya and Kamya and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 17 spellings went to 637, which makes it the 442nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,900 places above the chart.
and 9 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 2,523 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 34,941 for Kamiah 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 Lacresha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kamiah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lacresha climbed just as high around 1980, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lacresha's path sketches the road Kamiah is walking now.
Kamiah 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 Kamiah is headed
Kamiah is easing off slowly — about 28% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Kamiah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kamiah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kami and Mia are both complete short forms in current use.
- Read correctly on sight by most English speakers.
- Rare in the records, so it stays distinct on a class list.
- The stress is unsettled between the first and second syllables.
- Kamiah, Kamiya and Kamia are all in use and none is dominant.
- There is no documented meaning, and the Idaho town is a coincidence rather than a source.
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Kamiah
Feminine · #3342 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kamiahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Kamiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kamiah?
- Kamiah is one of 8 recorded spellings. Kamiyah is the more common one — 257 births in 2025 against 46 for Kamiah.
- How popular is the name Kamiah in 2025?
- Kamiah ranks #3342 among US girl names in 2025, with 46 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kamiah?
- About 1 in every 34,941 US girls born in 2025 was named Kamiah — 46 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kamiah with classmates?
- Kamiah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kamiah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zorah#3342 · Monique#3342 · Kinleigh#3342 · Emmelyn#3342 · Zyana#3342 · Swara#3342 · Azaleah#3342 · Elenora#3342
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kamiah? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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