Aleysha
A feminine name derived from the Arabic name Aliyah, meaning "sublime" or "exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 567 living Americans carry the first name Aleysha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aleysha today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aleysha births was 2020 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aleysha. 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 Aleysha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
567
~ 1 in 604,505 Americans
Peak year
2020
36 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,141
Tracked since 1986
Census
Aleysha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 516 people with the first name Aleysha, which placed it at #20,138 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
#20,138
National first-name rank
People counted
516
516 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
64.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aleysha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleysha is Hispanic at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and White (11.8%). 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 Aleysha 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 Aleysha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino64.9% · 335
- Black or African American16.5% · 85
- White11.8% · 61
- Two or more races4.5% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Aleysha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aleysha from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 176 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Aleysha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aleysha 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 Aleysha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aleyshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Massachusetts, Texas recorded the most babies named Aleysha, while Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aleysha
The name Aleysha is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, where it is derived from the word "al-'aysh," which means "life" or "living." This name was likely first used in the Middle East during the early centuries of Islam, around the 7th or 8th century AD.
In its original Arabic form, the name was spelled as "Alaysha" or "Alayshah," and it was commonly given to girls born in Arabic-speaking regions. The name was meant to convey the idea of a long and prosperous life, reflecting the cultural and religious significance of life in Islamic traditions.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Aleysha can be found in the writings of medieval Arab scholars and poets. For instance, there are references to an Alaysha bint Sulayman, a renowned poetess who lived in the 9th century AD in present-day Iraq.
Throughout history, the name Aleysha has been borne by various notable individuals. In the 12th century, Aleysha al-Baghdadiya was a celebrated Muslim scholar and writer from Baghdad, known for her expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and literature.
In the 16th century, Aleysha Khanum was a prominent figure in the Mughal Empire, serving as the chief consort of Emperor Humayun and the mother of the famous ruler Akbar the Great.
In the 19th century, Aleysha Begum was a renowned Indian poet and courtesan from Lucknow, whose works were widely acclaimed for their beauty and depth.
Another notable figure with the name Aleysha was Aleysha Jalili, an Iranian writer and activist who lived in the early 20th century and played a significant role in the women's rights movement in her country.
Over time, the name Aleysha has undergone various spelling variations, such as Alaysha, Alaisha, and Aleesha, as it spread to different regions and cultures. However, the underlying meaning and significance of the name have remained largely unchanged, celebrating the precious gift of life and the hope for a long and fulfilling existence.
People
Aleysha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aleysha 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
Aleysha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aleysha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 567 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aleysha 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 604,505 US residents.
Is Aleysha a common name?
We classify Aleysha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 575 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aleysha most popular?
The single biggest year for Aleysha was 2020, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aleysha is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aleysha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 516 people with the name Aleysha, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,138 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 Aleysha 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 Aleysha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aleysha appears almost entirely female. Of the 514 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Aleysha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleysha is Hispanic at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and White (11.8%). 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 Aleysha most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Aleysha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (335 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 Aleysha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aleysha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aleysha 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 Aleysha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aleysha 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 Aleysha 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 have the name Aleysha?
See how many Americans are named Aleysha on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.