Aliayah
Meaning "sublime, of high rank" of Arabic origin.
Name Census estimates that about 235 living Americans carry the first name Aliayah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aliayah today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aliayah births was 2006 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aliayah. 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
235
~ 1 in 1,458,529 Americans
Peak year
2006
19 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,520
Tracked since 1994
Census
Aliayah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 233 people with the first name Aliayah, which placed it at #34,862 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
#34,862
National first-name rank
People counted
233
233 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aliayah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aliayah is Black at 47.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.8%) and White (11.2%). 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 Aliayah 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 Aliayah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.2% · 110
- Hispanic or Latino28.8% · 67
- White11.2% · 26
- Two or more races9.0% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
Popularity
Aliayah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aliayah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 116 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
Aliayah 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 Aliayah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aliayah
The name Aliayah is a relatively modern Arabic name that has gained popularity in recent decades. It is derived from the Arabic word "aliya," which means "sublime" or "exalted." The name is often given to girls in Arabic-speaking countries, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
Aliayah is a feminine name, and its origins can be traced back to the Arabic language and Islamic culture. While it is not explicitly mentioned in religious scriptures or ancient texts, the name's meaning and roots are deeply rooted in the Arabic language and cultural traditions.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Aliayah are relatively recent, as it did not gain widespread popularity until the late 20th century. However, there have been a few notable individuals throughout history who have borne this name or variations of it.
One such individual is Aliayah Gribaa, a Tunisian singer and songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1990s and early 2000s. She is known for her contributions to the Tunisian music scene and her fusion of traditional Arabic and contemporary styles.
Another notable figure with a similar name is Aliya Mustafina, a Russian gymnast who won multiple Olympic and World Championship medals in the late 2000s and early 2010s. While her name is spelled slightly differently, it shares a similar origin and meaning to Aliayah.
In the realm of literature, there is Aliya Whiteley, a British author and novelist known for her works of speculative fiction and fantasy. Her novel "The Beauty" was published in 2014 and received critical acclaim.
Aliya Ghada Abusahmain is a Palestinian-American activist and community organizer who has been involved in various social justice movements and initiatives in the United States. She has been recognized for her work in promoting human rights and advocating for marginalized communities.
Lastly, Aliya Naim Bakay is a Moroccan artist and painter whose works have been exhibited in galleries and museums across North Africa and Europe. She is known for her vibrant and colorful depictions of Moroccan culture and landscapes.
While the name Aliayah itself is relatively modern, its roots and meaning are deeply ingrained in the rich cultural heritage of the Arabic language and Islamic traditions, reflecting the values of sublimity and exaltation.
People
Aliayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aliayah 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
Aliayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aliayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 235 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aliayah 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 1,458,529 US residents.
Is Aliayah a common name?
We classify Aliayah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 239 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aliayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Aliayah was 2006, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aliayah is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aliayah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 233 people with the name Aliayah, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,862 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 Aliayah 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 Aliayah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aliayah appears almost entirely female. Of the 231 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Aliayah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aliayah is Black at 47.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.8%) and White (11.2%). 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 Aliayah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Aliayah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.2% (110 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 Aliayah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aliayah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aliayah 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 Aliayah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aliayah 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 Aliayah 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 Aliayah?
See how many people have the name Aliayah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.