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Jamaica
How to Pronounce Jamaica
Pronounced juh-MAY-kuh /dʒəˈmeɪ.kə/High
Meaning: Jamaica is the name of the Caribbean island nation used as a given name. The island's name comes from the Taino Xaymaca, generally rendered 'land of wood and water' or 'land of springs'. As a personal name it functions as a place-name choice rather than a traditional given name.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Jamaica is a place-name given as a first name — the Caribbean island nation, whose name comes from the Taino Xaymaca, usually translated 'land of wood and water' or 'land of springs'. Place-names like this appealed to parents drawn to their sound and associations. The Antiguan-American author Jamaica Kincaid lent the name literary weight, though she adopted it as a writing name rather than being born to it.
Jamaica appeared thinly as a given name, cresting around 1977, and has kept a small, scattered life right into recent years — unusually long for such a name. A girl named Jamaica then is now in her late forties. It reads as a warm, evocative place-name; with travel and word names in fashion, it remains an offbeat but recognizable choice.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Jamaica mean?
Jamaica is the name of the Caribbean island used as a given name; the island's Taino name Xaymaca means 'land of wood and water'.
How do you pronounce Jamaica?
It's said juh-MAY-kuh /dʒəˈmeɪ.kə/ — three syllables, stress on the second.
Is Jamaica a boy or girl name?
Jamaica is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Jamaica?
Jamaica has always been a rare place-name choice, most visible in the later nineteen-seventies, with a small scattered life since.