Aalijah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "exalted" or "skyward".
Name Census estimates that about 439 living Americans carry the first name Aalijah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Aalijah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aalijah births was 2014 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aalijah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
439
~ 1 in 780,762 Americans
Peak year
2014
33 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,726
Tracked since 1994
Census
Aalijah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 307 people with the first name Aalijah, which placed it at #29,019 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#29,019
National first-name rank
People counted
307
307 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aalijah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aalijah is Black at 47.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.3%) and Two or More Races (12.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Aalijah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Aalijah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.2% · 145
- Hispanic or Latino30.3% · 93
- Two or more races12.4% · 38
- White8.1% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Aalijah
Aalijah is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 443 total registrations, 294 (66.4%) were male and 149 (33.6%) were female.
Aalijah as a male name
- Ranked #7,726 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (22 births)
Aalijah as a female name
- Ranked #12,465 in 2018
- 7 female births in 2018
- Peak: 2017 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aalijah on both sides of the split. Of the 310 people counted with this name, 180 were male (58.1%) and 130 were female (41.9%).
Popularity
Aalijah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aalijah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 236 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aalijah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aalijah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aalijahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Aalijah
The name Aalijah is a variation of the Arabic name Aaliyah, which means "highness" or "exalted." It is derived from the Arabic root word "alaa," meaning "to rise" or "to ascend." The name has its origins in the Middle Eastern region, particularly in countries with a strong Islamic influence.
Aalijah can be traced back to ancient Arabic texts and manuscripts, where it was commonly used as a name for both males and females. In Islamic tradition, the name is associated with spiritual elevation and a connection to the divine.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aalijah can be found in the writings of the renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher, Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE). He mentioned the name in his treatise on spiritual purification and the ascension of the soul.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Aalijah. One such person was Aalijah al-Bakri (1094-1176 CE), a celebrated Arab geographer and traveler from Spain. His works, including the "Book of Roads and Kingdoms," provided invaluable insights into the geography and cultures of the medieval Islamic world.
Another prominent figure was Aalijah al-Andalusi (1201-1261 CE), a renowned Andalusian philosopher and poet. His philosophical writings explored topics such as metaphysics, ethics, and the nature of the soul, while his poetry celebrated the beauty of the natural world and the human experience.
In the 13th century, Aalijah al-Qurashi (1210-1286 CE) was a prominent Sufi mystic and scholar from Persia. He was known for his profound spiritual teachings and his contributions to the understanding of Islamic mysticism.
During the Ottoman Empire, Aalijah Mustafa Pasha (1515-1580) was a renowned military commander and statesman. He played a significant role in the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and is remembered for his strategic military campaigns and leadership.
Another notable figure was Aalijah bint Ahmad (1768-1844), a highly respected Islamic scholar and teacher from Egypt. She was renowned for her extensive knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her dedication to educating both men and women in religious studies.
People
Aalijah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aalijah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aalijah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aalijah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 439 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aalijah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 780,762 US residents.
Is Aalijah a common name?
We classify Aalijah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 443 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aalijah most popular?
The single biggest year for Aalijah was 2014, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aalijah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aalijah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 307 people with the name Aalijah, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,019 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Aalijah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Aalijah?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aalijah on both sides of the split. Of the 310 people counted with this name, 180 were male (58.1%) and 130 were female (41.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Aalijah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aalijah is Black at 47.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.3%) and Two or More Races (12.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Aalijah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Aalijah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.2% (145 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Aalijah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aalijah a male name?
Yes, 66.4% of people registered as Aalijah in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Aalijah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aalijah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Aalijah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Aalijah as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.