Allayah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "highest level" or "supreme."
Name Census estimates that about 390 living Americans carry the first name Allayah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Allayah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Allayah births was 2001 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Allayah. 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
390
~ 1 in 878,857 Americans
Peak year
2001
20 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,562
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Allayah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Allayah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 155 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Allayah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Allayah 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 Allayah 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 Allayah
The given name Allayah is believed to have its origins in Arabic and Hebrew cultures, tracing back to the early Middle Ages. In Arabic, the name is thought to derive from the word "Allahu," meaning "God," combined with the feminine suffix "-yah." This suggests that Allayah may have been used as a name to honor or express devotion to God.
In Hebrew, the name Allayah bears similarities to the word "Eliyah," which is a variant spelling of the name Elijah, a prominent figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. Elijah was a revered prophet known for his unwavering faith and miracles. It's possible that Allayah was influenced by or derived from this biblical name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Allayah can be found in the writings of the 12th-century Muslim scholar and philosopher, Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes. He mentioned a woman named Allayah in his works, though little is known about her beyond her name.
In the 14th century, there are records of a Jewish scholar and physician named Allayah ben Shlomo, who lived in Spain during the Golden Age of Jewish culture in Iberia. He was known for his contributions to medical knowledge and his writings on philosophy.
During the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, there was a notable Ottoman princess named Allayah Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Selim II. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of educational institutions.
Another historical figure bearing the name Allayah was Allayah al-Idrisi, an Arab geographer and cartographer who lived in the 12th century. He was renowned for his groundbreaking work, the Nuzhat al-Mushtaq, which included detailed maps and descriptions of various regions around the world.
In the 18th century, Allayah bint Abdullah was a prominent Arab poet and scholar from the city of Mecca. Her poetry and writings on literature and theology were highly respected and widely circulated during her lifetime.
These examples highlight the rich cultural heritage and historical significance associated with the name Allayah, which has been used across various regions and time periods, often by individuals who made notable contributions to their respective fields.
People
Allayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Allayah 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
Allayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Allayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 390 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Allayah 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 878,857 US residents.
Is Allayah a common name?
We classify Allayah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 395 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Allayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Allayah was 2001, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Allayah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Allayah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Allayah 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.
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.