Given name & surname
Sema
“a divine omen; a known symbol”
Sema is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “a divine omen; a known symbol.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “a divine omen; a known symbol.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1930. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Sema through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 219
- 0 boys · 219 girls
- Most popular year
- 2014
- 12 babies
- 2025
- 6
- #14,665 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −54%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 14,665 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 12 in 2014. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 687 as a first name in 2020; 249 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sema’s family of names
Sema has a related form in Semah. In Greek usage, Sema as a surname is a transliteration of Σέμα.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Sema
- Sema KaygusuzTurkish writer (born 1972)
- Sema RamazanoğluTurkish statesperson (born 1959)
- Sema AydemirTurkish sprinter (born 1985)
- Sema MerayTurkish actor (born 1968)
- Sema ÇalışkanTurkish boxer (born 1996)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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