Fun Facts About the Name Bama
- 498 babies named Bama: U.S. records list 498 babies given the name Bama from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Bama Mean?
Bama is a feminine given name used mainly in South Asia - in Tamil- and Telugu-speaking parts of India and in Bengal. The most common explanation takes it from Sanskrit bhāmā, "splendor" or "light," the second element of Satyabhāmā ("true splendor"), a wife of Krishna in Hindu tradition. Bama is one of several English spellings of the shortened form Bhama; Indian languages and their transliterations differ in how they represent the Sanskrit sound bh.
A second explanation connects the name with Sanskrit vāmā, "lovely woman" or simply "woman," a word also used for the left side and as an epithet of the goddesses Lakshmi, Durga, and Sarasvati. In Bengali and Odia an initial v regularly becomes b, so vāmā appears as bāmā. Because both Sanskrit words can end up spelled Bama in English, the exact source behind any single given name is often uncertain.
Bama Name History & Origins
The name's background is Hindu and Sanskritic. Its best-known ancient bearer is Satyabhama, one of Krishna's wives in the Mahabharata and the Puranas; in several Indian languages her name is shortened to Bhama, written in English also as Bama. A traditional Telugu dance-drama, the Bhama Kalapam, takes her as its central character, and the shortened name stays familiar in South Indian devotional and literary writing.
In Bengal and Odisha, Bama is used as a girl's name and appears in devotional verse for the goddess, where the Sanskrit word vāmā ("woman," also an epithet of Lakshmi) is written with an initial b. In modern Tamil writing, Bama is the name under which the author of the autobiography Karukku (1992) has published.
Two unrelated words share the spelling. In Burmese, Bama is the name of the Bamar people and, informally, of the country; in the United States, "Bama" is a nickname for Alabama and for people and teams from that state. Neither is connected to the South Asian given name.
How Popular is the Name Bama?
Bama recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1894. Its best rank was #700 in 1883.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | #10,650 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1959 | #6,310 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1955 | #5,883 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1951 | #4,410 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1949 | #5,295 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1948 | #4,698 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1946 | #5,004 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1942 | #4,676 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1941 | #3,590 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1938 | #3,200 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1935 | #4,269 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1932 | #2,659 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1931 | #2,594 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1930 | #3,378 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1929 | #3,417 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1928 | #3,783 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1927 | #3,902 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1926 | #3,068 | 10 | 0.0008% |
| 1925 | #3,386 | 9 | 0.0007% |
| 1924 | #3,166 | 10 | 0.0008% |
| 1923 | #2,933 | 11 | 0.0009% |
| 1922 | #2,976 | 11 | 0.0009% |
| 1921 | #3,432 | 9 | 0.0007% |
| 1920 | #5,052 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1919 | #2,521 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1918 | #2,537 | 13 | 0.0011% |
| 1917 | #3,752 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1916 | #2,683 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1915 | #2,397 | 12 | 0.0012% |
| 1914 | #3,675 | 5 | 0.0007% |
| 1913 | #2,039 | 10 | 0.0016% |
| 1912 | #1,730 | 11 | 0.0020% |
| 1911 | #1,976 | 7 | 0.0017% |
| 1910 | #1,431 | 11 | 0.0028% |
| 1909 | #1,480 | 9 | 0.0026% |
| 1908 | #2,139 | 5 | 0.0015% |
| 1907 | #1,852 | 6 | 0.0019% |
| 1906 | #1,978 | 5 | 0.0017% |
| 1905 | #1,168 | 11 | 0.0038% |
| 1904 | #1,266 | 9 | 0.0033% |
| 1903 | #1,144 | 10 | 0.0038% |
| 1902 | #942 | 14 | 0.0053% |
| 1901 | #1,235 | 8 | 0.0033% |
| 1900 | #1,744 | 6 | 0.0020% |
| 1899 | #1,038 | 10 | 0.0043% |
| 1898 | #1,523 | 6 | 0.0023% |
| 1897 | #1,042 | 10 | 0.0043% |
| 1895 | #1,440 | 6 | 0.0026% |
| 1894 | #816 | 14 | 0.0063% |
| 1893 | #1,186 | 7 | 0.0033% |
| 1892 | #1,179 | 7 | 0.0033% |
| 1891 | #1,228 | 6 | 0.0032% |
| 1890 | #1,013 | 8 | 0.0042% |
| 1889 | #1,036 | 7 | 0.0039% |
| 1888 | #903 | 9 | 0.0050% |
| 1887 | #1,163 | 5 | 0.0034% |
| 1885 | #932 | 6 | 0.0045% |
| 1884 | #739 | 9 | 0.0070% |
| 1883 | #700 | 8 | 0.0071% |
| 1882 | #820 | 6 | 0.0056% |
| 1881 | #841 | 5 | 0.0054% |
| 1880 | #751 | 6 | 0.0066% |
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.
Most Popular Girl Names That Start with B
Short Girl Names That Start with B
How the Name Bama Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Bama's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Bama's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.