Alesa
Of Greek origin, meaning "defending warrior" or "defending protector".
Name Census estimates that about 820 living Americans carry the first name Alesa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alesa today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alesa births was 1963 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alesa. 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
820
~ 1 in 417,993 Americans
Peak year
1963
38 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2018 SSA rank
#15,792
Tracked since 1951
Census
Alesa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 910 people with the first name Alesa, which placed it at #13,318 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
#13,318
National first-name rank
People counted
910
910 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alesa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alesa is White at 57.9%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Hispanic (15.7%). 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 Alesa 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 Alesa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.9% · 527
- Black or African American17.8% · 162
- Hispanic or Latino15.7% · 143
- Two or more races4.1% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 8
Popularity
Alesa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alesa from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 243 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alesa 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 Alesa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alesas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Alesa, while Ohio, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alesa
The name Alesa is believed to have its origins in the Greek language. It is thought to be a feminine form of the male name Alexis, which means "defender" or "helper" in Greek. This name can be traced back to ancient times, with variations like Alesea and Alesia being found in ancient Greek texts and records.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alesa can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. He mentioned an individual named Alesia, who was a priestess at the temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
During the Byzantine era, there are records of a saint named Alesia, who lived in the 4th century AD. She was a Christian martyr who was executed for her beliefs during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
In the Middle Ages, the name Alesa appeared in various forms across Europe. One notable figure was Alesia of Montfort, a 13th-century French noblewoman who played a role in the conflict between the Capetian and Plantagenet dynasties.
In the Renaissance period, there was an Italian painter named Alesa Bellaroba, who lived in the 15th century and was known for her portraits and religious works.
Another historical figure with the name Alesa was Alesa Duhamel, a 17th-century French writer and philosopher who was part of the intellectual circle of the Parisian salons.
While the name Alesa has been used throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon in most parts of the world. However, it continues to be used, primarily in Eastern Europe and parts of the Mediterranean region, where it has maintained its connection to its Greek roots and cultural significance.
People
Alesa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alesa 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
Alesa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alesa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 820 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alesa 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 417,993 US residents.
Is Alesa a common name?
We classify Alesa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 926 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alesa most popular?
The single biggest year for Alesa was 1963, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alesa is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alesa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 910 people with the name Alesa, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,318 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 Alesa 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 Alesa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alesa appears almost entirely female. Of the 915 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Alesa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alesa is White at 57.9%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Hispanic (15.7%). 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 Alesa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alesa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.9% (527 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 Alesa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alesa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alesa 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 Alesa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alesa 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 Alesa 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 Alesa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.