Alaya
An Arabic girls' name derived from Alayah meaning "loftiness" or "sublime".
Name Census estimates that about 10,160 living Americans carry the first name Alaya. It sits at #362 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alaya today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alaya births was 2020 (913 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alaya. 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 Alaya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Alaya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
10K
~ 1 in 33,736 Americans
Peak year
2020
913 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#362
Tracked since 1979
Census
Alaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,177 people with the first name Alaya, which placed it at #3,815 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
#3,815
National first-name rank
People counted
5.2K
5,177 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alaya is Black at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.2%) and White (17.0%). 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 Alaya 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 Alaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.2% · 2,496
- Hispanic or Latino19.2% · 993
- White17.0% · 879
- Two or more races10.2% · 529
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 221
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 59
Popularity
Alaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alaya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 4,201 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alaya 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 Alaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Alaya, while Idaho, Utah, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 222 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alaya
The name Alaya originates from the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that has its roots in the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "alaya," which means "abode" or "dwelling place." This term is often used in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy to refer to the repository or storehouse of past impressions and experiences within the mind.
In Hindu mythology, Alaya is mentioned as the name of a river or stream, and it is sometimes associated with the concept of a divine or sacred abode. The name has been found in ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, although specific references are scarce.
The earliest recorded use of the name Alaya can be traced back to the 7th century CE. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Alaya Rama, a Hindu philosopher and scholar who lived during the Pallava dynasty in South India. He is known for his commentaries on various philosophical texts and his contributions to the study of Advaita Vedanta.
In the 12th century, there was a famous Indian poet and scholar named Alaya Vamana, who was known for his work on Sanskrit grammar and poetics. He is believed to have been born in the present-day state of Karnataka in South India.
Another notable figure was Alaya Devi, a Hindu queen who ruled the Sena Empire in Bengal, India, during the late 12th century. She is renowned for her patronage of art, literature, and architecture, as well as her skills in warfare and governance.
In the field of Hindustani classical music, Alaya Khansahib was a celebrated Dhrupad singer and musician who lived in the 17th century. He is credited with preserving and propagating the Dhrupad tradition, which is one of the oldest forms of Hindustani classical music.
During the 19th century, there was an Indian philosopher and reformer named Alaya Prasad Tiwari, who played a significant role in the Bengal Renaissance movement. He advocated for social and educational reforms, particularly in the areas of women's rights and education.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Alaya. The name has a rich heritage and is deeply rooted in the cultural and philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent, reflecting the concept of a sacred dwelling place or repository of knowledge and experiences.
People
Alaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alaya 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
Alaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,160 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alaya 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 33,736 US residents.
Is Alaya a common name?
We classify Alaya as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,249 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Alaya was 2020, when 913 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alaya is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,177 people with the name Alaya, or 1.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,815 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 Alaya 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 Alaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,173 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Alaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alaya is Black at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.2%) and White (17.0%). 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 Alaya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Alaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.2% (2,496 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 Alaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alaya 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 Alaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alaya 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 Alaya 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 Alaya?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.