Amaya

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Amaya

Gender: Feminine
Language: Spanish; Japanese
Etymology:
1. Amaya is a Spanish form of a Basque name, Amaia, which comes from a mountain name meaning “End.” It is also a Spanish surname, originating in the same area.
-or-
2. Amaya is a Japanese name meaning “Night Rain.”

History:
Amaya, the Spanish name, comes from the heroine of the 1879 novel Amaya, O Los Vascos En El Siglo VII (Amaya, or the Basques of the Eight Century) a Romantic, historical novel by Spanish author Francisco Navarrese (Navarro) Villoslada (1818-1895). His book was made into a Basque opera in 1920 (by Jesus Guridi), and a film in 1952 (by Luis Marquina).

In the United States Amaya suddenly became popular in 1999 when a woman named Amaya Brecher (or Spanish-American descent, according to imdb.com) participated on MTV’s popular reality show The Real World.

Amaya is also an unrelated (etymologically) Japanese name.

Pronunciation: ah-mai-ah.

Alternates: Amaia, Maya.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
less than 0.001 % named Amaya

Popularity of Amaya:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1900-1990: N/A
1998: N/A
1999: 405th most popular.
2000: 198th most popular.
2001: 296th most popular.
2002: 286th most popular.
2003: 184th most popular.