Anaiya
A feminine name of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of Anna.
Name Census estimates that about 2,168 living Americans carry the first name Anaiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anaiya today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anaiya births was 2006 (130 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anaiya. 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 Anaiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Anaiya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 158,097 Americans
Peak year
2006
130 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,381
Tracked since 1995
Census
Anaiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,561 people with the first name Anaiya, which placed it at #9,070 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
#9,070
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,561 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anaiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anaiya is Black at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.7%) and Two or More Races (11.7%). 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 Anaiya 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 Anaiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.2% · 799
- Hispanic or Latino21.7% · 339
- Two or more races11.7% · 182
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.0% · 140
- White5.6% · 88
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 13
Popularity
Anaiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anaiya 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 1,059 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
Anaiya 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 Anaiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anaiyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Anaiya, while Washington, South Carolina, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anaiya
The name Anaiya is a relatively modern name, believed to have originated in the late 20th century. Its roots can be traced back to the Arabic language, where it is derived from the word "Ana" meaning "I" and "Aya" meaning "sign" or "miracle." Thus, the name Anaiya can be interpreted as "I am a miracle" or "I am a sign."
While the name itself is not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its Arabic roots provide a rich cultural context. The Arabic language has played a significant role in the spread of Islamic culture and literature, influencing various regions across the Middle East and North Africa.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Anaiya are relatively recent, with the first known examples appearing in the late 20th century. One of the earliest notable individuals with this name is Anaiya Rae, an American singer and songwriter born in 1996. She gained recognition for her participation in various singing competitions and her successful debut album "Anaiya Rae" released in 2016.
Another notable figure with the name Anaiya is Anaiya Aon, a Pakistani actress born in 1993. She has starred in several popular television dramas and films, including "Mere Humsafar" and "Mastana Mahi." Her performances have earned her critical acclaim and a loyal fan following in Pakistan.
In the literary world, Anaiya Pearce is an American author known for her young adult fantasy novels. Her debut book, "The Immortal Circus," published in 2019, received positive reviews and established her as a promising voice in the genre.
Anaiya Vijayarajah is a Sri Lankan-Australian professional cricketer who has represented both Sri Lanka and Australia in international cricket competitions. Born in 1991, she is renowned for her all-rounder abilities as a right-arm off-break bowler and a powerful batter.
Another notable individual with the name Anaiya is Anaiya El-Bahri, an Egyptian-American artist and sculptor. Her works, which often explore themes of identity and cultural fusion, have been exhibited in various galleries across the United States and the Middle East.
While the name Anaiya is relatively new, its Arabic roots and the accomplishments of individuals bearing this name have contributed to its growing popularity in recent years. As a name that symbolizes miracles and signs, it holds a unique cultural significance and offers a glimpse into the diverse influences that shape modern naming trends.
People
Anaiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anaiya 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
Anaiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anaiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,168 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anaiya 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 158,097 US residents.
Is Anaiya a common name?
We classify Anaiya as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,193 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anaiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Anaiya was 2006, when 130 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anaiya is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anaiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,561 people with the name Anaiya, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,070 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 Anaiya 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 Anaiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anaiya appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,554 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 Anaiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anaiya is Black at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.7%) and Two or More Races (11.7%). 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 Anaiya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Anaiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.2% (799 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 Anaiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anaiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anaiya 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 Anaiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anaiya 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 Anaiya 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 Anaiya?
See how many people have the name Anaiya on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.