Aja
A feminine name derived from the Hindi word "aja" meaning "the unborn eternal".
Name Census estimates that about 8,047 living Americans carry the first name Aja. It is a predominantly female name (98.9% of registrations). The average person named Aja today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aja births was 1978 (510 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aja. 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 Aja is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 90 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
8.0K
~ 1 in 42,594 Americans
Peak year
1978
510 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2017 SSA rank
#2,594
Tracked since 1968
Gender
Gender distribution for Aja
Aja leans heavily female at 98.9% of total registrations, but 90 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Aja as a male name
- Ranked #10,823 in 2017
- 6 male births in 2017
- Peak: 1978 (19 births)
Aja as a female name
- Ranked #2,594 in 2024
- 67 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1978 (491 births)
Popularity
Aja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aja from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 2,200 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aja 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 Aja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ajas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Aja, while Delaware, Oklahoma, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 173 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aja
The name Aja has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word 'aja', meaning 'unborn' or 'eternal'. This name was initially associated with Lord Brahma, the Hindu deity of creation, who is considered to be unborn and eternal.
In Hindu mythology, the name Aja is mentioned in various ancient texts and scriptures, such as the Puranas and the Upanishads. It is often used as an epithet for Lord Brahma, highlighting his eternal and self-existent nature.
The earliest recorded use of the name Aja can be traced back to ancient India, where it was primarily used as a name for male children. However, over time, it has also been adopted as a gender-neutral name in some cultures.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Aja was Aja, the grandson of the legendary King Bharata, from whom the name 'Bharata' (India) is derived. According to the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Aja was a powerful king who ruled over a vast territory in ancient India around the 7th century BCE.
Another prominent figure with the name Aja was Aja Ekalinga, a Hindu philosopher and saint who lived in the 12th century CE. He was a renowned scholar and a prolific writer, known for his works on Advaita Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy.
In the realm of literature, Aja Gvido was a renowned Italian poet and playwright from the 16th century. Born in Naples in 1538, he is best known for his poetic works in the Neapolitan dialect.
In more recent times, Aja Naidu was an Indian actress and dancer who graced the silver screen in the 1940s and 1950s. She was born in 1925 and is remembered for her performances in several popular Bollywood films of that era.
Aja Brown is a contemporary American politician and former mayor of Compton, California. Born in 1982, she served as the mayor of Compton from 2013 to 2021 and was renowned for her efforts in revitalizing the city.
People
Aja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aja 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
Aja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,047 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aja 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 42,594 US residents.
Is Aja a common name?
We classify Aja as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,359 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aja most popular?
The single biggest year for Aja was 1978, when 510 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aja is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aja a female name?
Yes, 98.9% of people registered as Aja 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.