Aishah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "life" or "alive".
Name Census estimates that about 1,221 living Americans carry the first name Aishah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aishah today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aishah births was 2003 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aishah. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 280,716 Americans
Peak year
2003
43 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,952
Tracked since 1963
Popularity
Aishah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aishah from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 313 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aishah 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 Aishah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aishahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Aishah, while Florida, Texas, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aishah
The name Aishah has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the root word 'aysh', which means 'life' or 'to live'. It is a feminine name that has been popular in the Islamic world for centuries.
Aishah is most notably associated with Aishah bint Abi Bakr (613-678 CE), who was one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad and is revered as one of the most influential figures in early Islamic history. She is known for her vast knowledge of Islamic teachings and her role in transmitting hadith, the sayings and actions of the Prophet.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Aishah can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. It gained popularity among Muslims due to its association with the revered figure of Aishah bint Abi Bakr.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Aishah. One such figure is Aishah al-Bakri (1014-1094 CE), a renowned Berber Muslim scholar and poet from present-day Morocco. She was renowned for her expertise in various fields, including linguistics, poetry, and Islamic jurisprudence.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Aishah al-Taymuriya (1456-1522 CE), a Mamluk princess and scholar from Egypt. She was known for her contributions to the fields of medicine, astronomy, and Islamic theology, and was widely respected for her intellectual pursuits.
In the modern era, Aishah Abd al-Rahman (1913-1998) was a prominent Sudanese writer, activist, and pioneer of women's rights in Sudan. Her works focused on the struggles and experiences of Sudanese women, and she played a crucial role in advocating for women's education and empowerment.
Aishah Ghawzi (1923-2008) was a renowned Palestinian writer and activist who dedicated her life to promoting Palestinian culture and literature. Her works, which included novels, short stories, and essays, explored themes of identity, displacement, and resistance, and earned her widespread recognition and respect.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Aishah throughout history, each contributing to their respective fields and leaving a lasting impact on their societies and cultures.
People
Aishah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aishah 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
Aishah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aishah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,221 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aishah 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 280,716 US residents.
Is Aishah a common name?
We classify Aishah as "Rare". It ranks above 91.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,264 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aishah most popular?
The single biggest year for Aishah was 2003, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aishah is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aishah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aishah 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.