Adalay
A unique spelling variant of the feminine name Adele, derived from the Germanic root meaning "noble".
Name Census estimates that about 206 living Americans carry the first name Adalay. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Adalay today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adalay births was 2016 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adalay. 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
206
~ 1 in 1,663,856 Americans
Peak year
2016
22 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,251
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Adalay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adalay from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 119 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Adalay remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adalay 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 Adalay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adalays live
Origin
Meaning and history of Adalay
The name Adalay has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages that emerged in Mesopotamia around 3500 BCE. It is derived from the Sumerian words "ada," meaning "father," and "lay," meaning "noble" or "exalted." Thus, the name Adalay can be interpreted as "noble father" or "exalted father."
The name has been found inscribed on clay tablets and cuneiform writings from the Sumerian civilization, indicating its use during the early Bronze Age. It was a popular name among the ruling class and nobility in ancient Sumer, reflecting the importance placed on paternal lineage and status.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Adalay was a high-ranking Sumerian priest who lived around 2500 BCE. His name has been found inscribed on a ceremonial tablet discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Ur, which was a major religious and cultural center of the Sumerian civilization.
In the 9th century BCE, an Assyrian king named Adalay II ruled over the powerful Assyrian Empire for a brief period. His reign was marked by military campaigns and the expansion of Assyrian dominance in the region.
During the Islamic Golden Age, a renowned Arab scholar and mathematician named Adalay ibn Isa al-Qurashi, who lived in the 9th century CE, made significant contributions to the field of algebra and authored several influential treatises on mathematics.
In the 12th century, a Seljuk Turk named Adalay Ghazi was a prominent military leader and commander who played a crucial role in the expansion of the Seljuk Empire in Anatolia and the Middle East.
Another notable figure with the name Adalay was a Persian poet and mystic who lived in the 13th century CE. Known as Adalay al-Din Rumi, he was a renowned Sufi master and the author of the celebrated poetic work, the Masnavi, which is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Persian literature.
People
Adalay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adalay 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
Adalay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adalay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 206 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adalay 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 1,663,856 US residents.
Is Adalay a common name?
We classify Adalay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 208 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adalay most popular?
The single biggest year for Adalay was 2016, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adalay is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Adalay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adalay a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adalay 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 Adalay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adalay 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 Adalay 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Adalay?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.