Aaliyan
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "highest" or "most exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 155 living Americans carry the first name Aaliyan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Aaliyan today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aaliyan births was 2019 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aaliyan. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Aaliyan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
155
~ 1 in 2,211,318 Americans
Peak year
2019
15 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,752
Tracked since 1994
Census
Aaliyan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 170 people with the first name Aaliyan, which placed it at #42,346 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
#42,346
National first-name rank
People counted
170
170 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
30.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aaliyan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aaliyan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 30.6%. The next largest groups are Black (28.2%) and Hispanic (22.9%). 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 Aaliyan 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 Aaliyan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander30.6% · 52
- Black or African American28.2% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino22.9% · 39
- White12.4% · 21
- Two or more races5.9% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Aaliyan
Aaliyan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 157 total registrations, 34 (21.7%) were male and 123 (78.3%) were female.
Aaliyan as a male name
- Ranked #9,752 in 2023
- 7 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2019 (10 births)
Aaliyan as a female name
- Ranked #11,090 in 2020
- 8 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2007 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aaliyan on both sides of the split. Of the 168 people counted with this name, 52 were male (31.0%) and 116 were female (69.0%).
Popularity
Aaliyan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aaliyan 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 66 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aaliyan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aaliyan 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 Aaliyan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aaliyan
The name Aaliyan has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Arabic word "Ali," which means "high" or "elevated," and is often associated with nobility, dignity, and excellence.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Aaliyan can be found in historical accounts of the Islamic faith, where it was used by some of the earliest followers of Prophet Muhammad. It is believed that the name was chosen to honor and pay tribute to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, who was revered for his wisdom, bravery, and devotion to the faith.
Throughout the centuries, the name Aaliyan has been carried by many notable figures in various fields, including literature, philosophy, and politics. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Aaliyan al-Hamadhani, a renowned Persian poet and philosopher who lived during the 10th century CE. His works, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, were widely celebrated and influential in the Islamic world.
Another prominent figure with the name Aaliyan was Aaliyan al-Kindi, an Arab philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 9th century CE. He is often regarded as one of the first true philosophers of the Islamic world, and his contributions to the fields of metaphysics, logic, and science were groundbreaking for his time.
In the realm of politics, Aaliyan al-Mansur was a notable figure who ruled as the second Abbasid caliph from 754 to 775 CE. During his reign, he oversaw the expansion of the Abbasid Empire and the construction of the city of Baghdad, which became a hub of learning, culture, and trade.
More recently, Aaliyan Kurdi was a prominent Syrian writer and intellectual who lived from 1892 to 1972. He was known for his contributions to Arabic literature and his advocacy for Arab nationalism and independence from colonial rule.
While these are just a few examples, the name Aaliyan has been carried by many other notable individuals throughout history, each leaving their unique mark on the cultures and societies in which they lived. Its rich heritage and association with nobility, wisdom, and excellence have made it a cherished and respected name across the Arabic-speaking world and beyond.
People
Aaliyan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aaliyan 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
Aaliyan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aaliyan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 155 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aaliyan 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 2,211,318 US residents.
Is Aaliyan a common name?
We classify Aaliyan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 157 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aaliyan most popular?
The single biggest year for Aaliyan was 2019, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aaliyan is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aaliyan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 170 people with the name Aaliyan, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,346 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 Aaliyan 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 Aaliyan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aaliyan on both sides of the split. Of the 168 people counted with this name, 52 were male (31.0%) and 116 were female (69.0%). 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 Aaliyan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aaliyan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 30.6%. The next largest groups are Black (28.2%) and Hispanic (22.9%). 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 Aaliyan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Aaliyan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 30.6% (52 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 Aaliyan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aaliyan a female name?
Yes, 78.3% of people registered as Aaliyan 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.
Is Aaliyan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aaliyan 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 Aaliyan 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 are named Aaliyan?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Aaliyan at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.