Aaliyah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "the highest, most exalted one".
Name Census estimates that about 106,181 living Americans carry the first name Aaliyah. It sits at #93 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aaliyah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aaliyah births was 2012 (5,529 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Makayla (105,945).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aaliyah. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Aaliyah is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 106 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Aaliyah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
106K
~ 1 in 3,228 Americans
Peak year
2012
5,529 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#93
Tracked since 1976
Gender
Gender distribution for Aaliyah
Out of the 107,420 babies given the name Aaliyah since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Aaliyah as a male name
- Ranked #12,234 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2013 (12 births)
Aaliyah as a female name
- Ranked #93 in 2024
- 2,703 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (5,522 births)
Popularity
Aaliyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aaliyah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 46,757 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aaliyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aaliyah 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 Aaliyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aaliyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Aaliyah, while Wyoming, Vermont, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,091 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aaliyah
Aaliyah is a name with Arabic origins, derived from the word "Aaliyah" which means "exalted" or "rising high" in Arabic. It is a feminine name that has been used for centuries in various parts of the Arab world and among Muslim communities around the globe.
The name Aaliyah can be traced back to the early days of Islam, and it is believed to have been used as a name for girls since the 7th century. In Islamic tradition, the name is often associated with spiritual elevation and purity of heart and soul.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Aaliyah can be found in the historical accounts of the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled over a vast empire spanning from North Africa to Central Asia between the 8th and 13th centuries. During this period, several women bearing the name Aaliyah achieved prominence in various fields, including literature, poetry, and scholarship.
Throughout history, the name Aaliyah has been borne by notable figures across different cultures and regions. One of the most famous historical figures named Aaliyah was Aaliyah bint Abdallah, a 9th-century Muslim scholar and poet from present-day Iraq, renowned for her contributions to Arabic literature and Islamic studies.
Another prominent figure with the name Aaliyah was Aaliyah Khaanum, a 17th-century Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal. She was known for her patronage of art, architecture, and literature during the Mughal Empire's golden age.
In the 20th century, the name Aaliyah gained widespread popularity, particularly in the United States, thanks in part to the success of the late American singer and actress Aaliyah Dana Haughton (1979-2001), who was often referred to simply as Aaliyah. Her music and style had a significant impact on the R&B and hip-hop genres, and she remains an iconic figure in popular culture.
Other notable historical figures named Aaliyah include Aaliyah Gurkani (1911-1976), a Pakistani scholar and educator who played a crucial role in promoting women's education in the region, and Aaliyah Saleh (1936-1994), a renowned Sudanese singer and actress celebrated for her contributions to Sudanese music and culture.
People
Aaliyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aaliyah 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
Aaliyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aaliyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 106,181 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aaliyah 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 3,228 US residents.
Is Aaliyah a common name?
We classify Aaliyah as "Common". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 107,420 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aaliyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Aaliyah was 2012, when 5,529 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aaliyah is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aaliyah a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Aaliyah in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.