Fun Facts About the Name Ama
- More than 1 thousand babies named Ama: U.S. records list 1,049 babies given the name Ama from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Ama Mean?
Ama is a female given name of the Akan people of Ghana. It is a day name, given to a girl born on Saturday, and it belongs to the Akan language, whose best-known written forms are Twi and Fante. Akan day names come in male and female pairs, one pair for each weekday; the Saturday pair is Kwame for boys and Ama for girls. The name carries the day of birth rather than a descriptive phrase, and it is usually combined with other names that record family or religious ties.
The spelling ama also exists as an unrelated word in the Romance languages. Latin amma meant a nurse or a mother, and it became Spanish and Portuguese ama, which can mean the mistress of a household, a housekeeper, or a wet nurse, as in Spanish ama de casa (housewife) and ama de llaves (housekeeper). The Akan name and this Romance word are not connected; they simply share the same letters.
Ama Name History & Origins
A day name is fixed by the weekday of birth, so every Akan girl born on a Saturday is called Ama. Because a day name is shared by everyone born on that weekday, Akan families generally add other names - often ones tied to a family event, an ancestor, or a religious affiliation - to identify an individual. The Saturday name for boys, Kwame, is familiar from Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president, and Ama is its female counterpart. The custom is used by Akan groups such as the Asante, Fante, and Akuapem, and by other Ghanaians who have adopted it; Ama is a familiar female name in Ghana and among Ghanaian families abroad.
Akan speakers were among the peoples carried to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade, and their day names went with them. Male forms such as Kwame, Kofi, Kwadwo (often written Cudjoe or Quaco), and Kwasi (Quashie) survive in Jamaican and other Caribbean naming traditions, especially among Maroon communities. Ama belongs to the same set of day names.
The Romance word has a separate line of development. Latin amma, used for a nurse or foster mother, passed into the Romance languages and survives in Spanish and Portuguese as ama. When it is used as a personal name, it is distinct from the Akan name and is not the source of it.
How Popular is the Name Ama?
Ama recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2019. Its best rank was #846 in 1885.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #7,506 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 2024 | #6,383 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 2023 | #5,762 | 21 | 0.0013% |
| 2022 | #6,239 | 19 | 0.0012% |
| 2021 | #6,426 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 2020 | #8,434 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2019 | #5,168 | 25 | 0.0015% |
| 2018 | #6,263 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2017 | #6,306 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2016 | #7,255 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2015 | #8,480 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2014 | #7,326 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2013 | #6,739 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2012 | #7,158 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2011 | #10,427 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2010 | #9,829 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2009 | #9,411 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2008 | #7,765 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2007 | #8,548 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2006 | #7,895 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2005 | #5,607 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 2004 | #9,294 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2003 | #6,906 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2002 | #8,874 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2001 | #7,753 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2000 | #6,829 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1999 | #6,205 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1998 | #7,127 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1997 | #5,640 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1996 | #6,412 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1995 | #10,575 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1994 | #6,695 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1993 | #7,514 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1992 | #5,492 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1991 | #10,311 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1990 | #6,476 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1989 | #10,907 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #7,714 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1987 | #11,375 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #5,769 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1985 | #9,346 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #5,918 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1983 | #5,156 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1981 | #8,158 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1980 | #4,000 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1979 | #5,762 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1978 | #5,971 | 10 | 0.0007% |
| 1977 | #5,219 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1976 | #7,316 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1975 | #5,995 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1974 | #4,731 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1973 | #4,878 | 11 | 0.0008% |
| 1972 | #4,305 | 13 | 0.0009% |
| 1971 | #7,409 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #8,020 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1968 | #6,270 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1956 | #5,979 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1949 | #5,264 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1945 | #4,581 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1940 | #4,377 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1939 | #4,266 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1938 | #3,465 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1937 | #4,272 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1935 | #4,232 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1933 | #4,243 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1932 | #3,912 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1931 | #2,757 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1930 | #2,693 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1929 | #2,590 | 12 | 0.0011% |
| 1928 | #3,176 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1927 | #3,292 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1926 | #3,883 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1925 | #2,950 | 11 | 0.0009% |
| 1924 | #2,814 | 12 | 0.0010% |
| 1923 | #4,992 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1922 | #2,485 | 14 | 0.0012% |
| 1921 | #2,953 | 11 | 0.0009% |
| 1920 | #2,595 | 13 | 0.0011% |
| 1919 | #2,646 | 12 | 0.0011% |
| 1918 | #2,380 | 14 | 0.0012% |
| 1917 | #2,702 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1916 | #2,253 | 14 | 0.0013% |
| 1915 | #2,698 | 10 | 0.0010% |
| 1914 | #2,892 | 7 | 0.0009% |
| 1912 | #2,159 | 8 | 0.0014% |
| 1911 | #2,485 | 5 | 0.0012% |
| 1910 | #2,420 | 5 | 0.0013% |
| 1907 | #2,081 | 5 | 0.0016% |
| 1905 | #1,944 | 5 | 0.0017% |
| 1904 | #1,664 | 6 | 0.0022% |
| 1901 | #1,343 | 7 | 0.0029% |
| 1899 | #1,610 | 5 | 0.0021% |
| 1895 | #1,603 | 5 | 0.0021% |
| 1894 | #1,242 | 7 | 0.0031% |
| 1893 | #1,448 | 5 | 0.0023% |
| 1891 | #1,344 | 5 | 0.0027% |
| 1885 | #846 | 7 | 0.0053% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Ama Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You find the best contentment in life when you own your own home and provide well for your family and loved ones. You have a great sense of responsibility and duty. You are comforting, appreciative and affectionate. Your obligation in life is to hold justice and truth, and if you follow the Law, you can find the great happiness and satisfaction.
✦ Ama's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Ama's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.