Alishia
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Alice.
Name Census estimates that about 2,563 living Americans carry the first name Alishia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alishia today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alishia births was 1990 (132 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alishia. 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 Alishia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.6K
~ 1 in 133,732 Americans
Peak year
1990
132 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2018 SSA rank
#15,800
Tracked since 1960
Census
Alishia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,297 people with the first name Alishia, which placed it at #6,842 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
#6,842
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,297 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alishia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alishia is White at 51.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.1%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Alishia 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 Alishia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.5% · 1,182
- Black or African American31.1% · 715
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 187
- Two or more races6.5% · 149
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 23
Popularity
Alishia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alishia from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,108 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
Alishia 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 Alishia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alishias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Alishia, while Washington, Virginia, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alishia
The name Alishia is a feminine given name with roots in Arabic and Persian cultures. It is derived from the Arabic name Alisha, which means "noble" or "exalted". The name can also be traced back to the Persian word "alish", meaning "fire" or "flame".
In the early Islamic period, the name Alisha was used by several notable figures, including Alisha bint Abi Bakr, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and the daughter of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr. This early association with a prominent figure in Islamic history contributed to the name's popularity and spread across the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alishia can be found in the works of the 9th-century Arab poet, Abu Tammam. In his diwān (collection of poetry), he dedicated a verse to a woman named Alishia, praising her beauty and grace.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Alishia. One such figure was Alishia al-Andalusiya (1035-1107), a renowned Arab poet and scholar from Cordoba, Spain, who was celebrated for her mastery of Arabic literature and her contributions to the intellectual life of the Iberian Peninsula during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization.
Another prominent Alishia was Alishia bint Ahmed al-Qurashi (1260-1349), a Sufi mystic and poet from Damascus, Syria. She is known for her spiritual writings and her influence on the development of Sufism in the region.
In the 16th century, Alishia Safavid (1516-1594) was a Persian princess and patron of the arts, known for her support of poets, artists, and scholars during the Safavid dynasty.
Fast forward to the 20th century, Alishia Stevenson (1900-1965) was an American actress and singer who achieved fame on Broadway and in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.
While the name Alishia has its origins in the Middle East and Islamic cultures, it has since gained popularity in various parts of the world, transcending cultural boundaries and becoming a beloved name for many families.
People
Alishia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alishia 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
Alishia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alishia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,563 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alishia 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 133,732 US residents.
Is Alishia a common name?
We classify Alishia as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,719 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alishia most popular?
The single biggest year for Alishia was 1990, when 132 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alishia is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alishia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,297 people with the name Alishia, or 0.76 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,842 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 Alishia 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 Alishia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alishia appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,292 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Alishia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alishia is White at 51.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.1%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Alishia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alishia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.5% (1,182 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 Alishia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alishia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alishia 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 Alishia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alishia 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 Alishia 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 share the name Alishia?
You can see how many Americans are named Alishia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.