Alyssha
A feminine name derived from the French name Alyssa, meaning "noble and kind".
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Alyssha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alyssha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alyssha births was 1990 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alyssha. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Alyssha. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
1990
15 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2000 SSA rank
#15,162
Tracked since 1987
Census
Alyssha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 143 people with the first name Alyssha, which placed it at #46,519 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
#46,519
National first-name rank
People counted
143
143 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alyssha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alyssha is White at 47.6%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and Hispanic (19.6%). 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 Alyssha 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 Alyssha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.6% · 68
- Black or African American22.4% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino19.6% · 28
- Two or more races4.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 3
Popularity
Alyssha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alyssha from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 45 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alyssha 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 Alyssha 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 Alyssha
The name Alyssha is a relatively modern variation of the name Alicia, which has its origins in the Old German name Adaliz or Adalheidis. The name Adaliz is composed of the Germanic elements "adal," meaning "noble," and "heid," meaning "kind" or "type." The name was later Latinized to Alicia during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Alicia dates back to the 12th century, when it was mentioned in the poem "Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne" by the French poet Gérard de Vienne. In this work, the name Alicia was given to the daughter of King Hugo of Constantinople.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Alicia was Alicia de Lacy, Countess of Lincoln (c. 1210-1292), an English noblewoman and heiress who was a prominent figure during the reign of King Henry III. Another famous Alicia was Alicia de Ávila (1460-1520), a Spanish mystic and nun who was known for her visions and prophecies.
In literature, the name Alicia gained prominence through Lewis Carroll's classic novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865), where the protagonist's name was Anglicized to Alice. The character of Alice has since become an iconic figure in children's literature and popular culture.
Other notable historical figures with the name Alicia include Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009), a renowned Spanish classical pianist known for her interpretations of Spanish composers, and Alicia Alonso (1920-2019), a Cuban prima ballerina and choreographer who was a major figure in the world of ballet.
The variation Alyssha is a more recent spelling that emerged in the late 20th century, likely influenced by the trend of creating unique or alternative spellings of traditional names. While the origin and etymology remain rooted in the Old German Adaliz, the spelling Alyssha adds a modern twist to the name.
People
Alyssha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alyssha 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
Alyssha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alyssha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alyssha 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Alyssha a common name?
We classify Alyssha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 75 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alyssha most popular?
The single biggest year for Alyssha was 1990, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alyssha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alyssha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 143 people with the name Alyssha, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,519 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 Alyssha 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 Alyssha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alyssha leans strongly female. 136 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Alyssha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alyssha is White at 47.6%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and Hispanic (19.6%). 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 Alyssha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alyssha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.6% (68 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 Alyssha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alyssha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alyssha 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 Alyssha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alyssha 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 Alyssha 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 common is the name Alyssha?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Alyssha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.