Sumaiya
Feminine · “high”
Sumayya was the first person killed for the faith in Islam. An enslaved woman in Mecca, tortured with her husband and son to make them recant, she refused and was killed; the tradition names her as the first martyr, before any of the men.
How old is the name Sumaiya?
Sumaiya first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Sumaiya alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 600 people named Sumaiya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sumaiya most popular?
Sumaiya peaked in 2002, reaching #4767 nationally. Today it ranks #6838, 2,071 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Sumayya to Sumaiya
The story of Sumaiya
Sumayya bint Khayyat was an enslaved woman in Mecca who converted early; the accounts describe her, her husband Yasir and her son Ammar being tortured by Abu Jahl to force them to renounce Islam. She refused and was killed, and Islamic tradition counts her as the first martyr of the faith. Ammar survived and became a companion of the Prophet. Her name is used across the Muslim world in consequence, and it is particularly common in South Asia. Sumaiya is one of several English transliterations, and its best year in United States records is 2002.
Meaningscholars disagree
high, elevated
Arabic Sumayya is generally read as a diminutive of a word meaning high or elevated, from the root s-m-w that also gives sama, sky, and Samiah. The diminutive form softens it, giving something like the little high one. The reading is standard but the name is old enough that it is not fully secure.
How the name formed
- Sumayya
- Sumaiya
Related forms: Sumayya · Sumaiya · Sumaiya · Sumeyye
Pronouncing Sumaiya
soo-MY-yah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle and the doubled y genuinely held in Arabic. English speakers usually say soo-MY-uh, shortening the middle.
Nicknames for Sumaiya
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
- 1991
- Most girls named
- 200730 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4767reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- −38.5%16 in 2025, from 26
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.
Sumaiya in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sumayya in Arabic — transliteration
- Sumaiya in Urdu — same name
- Sumaiya in Bengali — same name
- Sumeyye in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Sumaiyas among us
people named Sumaiya are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 100,454 born in 2025 was named Sumaiya
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Sumaiya
- #6838
- Sumaiya on the 2025 chart
- #761
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Sumaiya went to 16 girls in 2025, but Sumaya, Sumayya and Sumayyah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 199, which makes it the 761st most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,077 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 8,077 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 100,454 for Sumaiya 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 Allis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sumaiya's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Allis climbed just as high around 1947, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Allis's path sketches the road Sumaiya is walking now.
Sumaiya 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
Sumaiya beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sumaiya in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented and remarkable early bearer, honored across the Muslim world.
- Suma, Sumi and Maya are three short forms in different registers.
- Open syllables throughout, so English speakers manage it at once.
- Sumayya, Sumaiya and Sumaya all circulate as transliterations.
- The doubled y of the Arabic is not reproduced in English.
- Outside Muslim communities the name is unfamiliar in America.
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Sumaiya
Feminine · #6838 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sumaiyas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Sumaiya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Sumaiya?
- Sumaiya is one of 6 recorded spellings. Sumaya is the more common one — 76 births in 2025 against 16 for Sumaiya.
- How popular is the name Sumaiya in 2025?
- Sumaiya ranks #6838 among US girl names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sumaiya?
- About 1 in every 100,454 US girls born in 2025 was named Sumaiya — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sumaiya with classmates?
- Sumaiya will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sumaiya
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Malana#6838 · Jeannie#6838 · Maxie#6838 · Nicol#6838 · Chaney#6838 · Keana#6838 · Concetta#6838 · Pheobe#6838
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sumaiya? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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