Anaiyah
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly related to the Arabic name Anaya.
Name Census estimates that about 1,570 living Americans carry the first name Anaiyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anaiyah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anaiyah births was 2010 (103 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anaiyah. 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 Anaiyah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Anaiyah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 218,315 Americans
Peak year
2010
103 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,215
Tracked since 1998
Census
Anaiyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 997 people with the first name Anaiyah, which placed it at #12,465 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
#12,465
National first-name rank
People counted
997
997 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anaiyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anaiyah is Black at 50.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.3%) and Two or More Races (10.8%). 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 Anaiyah 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 Anaiyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.2% · 500
- Hispanic or Latino31.3% · 312
- Two or more races10.8% · 108
- White4.2% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 6
Popularity
Anaiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anaiyah 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 764 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Anaiyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anaiyah 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 Anaiyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anaiyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Anaiyah, while Ohio, Georgia, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 61 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anaiyah
The name Anaiyah is a relatively modern given name that has gained popularity in recent decades. It is believed to have originated as a variation or combination of the Hebrew name Anaiah, meaning "Yahweh has answered," and the Arabic name Nayla, meaning "successful" or "attaining her goals."
While the exact origins and earliest recorded use of Anaiyah are unclear, it is thought to have emerged as a feminine name in English-speaking countries during the late 20th century. The name's popularity may have been influenced by the increasing embrace of multicultural and unconventional names, as well as a desire for unique and aesthetically pleasing names.
Despite its modern roots, some historical records suggest that variations of the name may have existed in earlier times. For instance, the name Anaya was recorded in the 16th century in Spain, and it may have been derived from the Basque word "anai," meaning "sister" or "female relative."
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Anaiyah or its variations. One example is Anaya Mukherjee, an Indian actress and model born in 1990, who has appeared in several Bollywood films and television shows. Another is Anaiah Blanchard, an American college student who tragically went missing in 2019 and whose disappearance garnered national attention.
While not as commonly found in historical records, a few other individuals with the name Anaiyah or similar variations can be mentioned. These include Anaiah Rucker, an American reality television personality and singer born in 1995, and Anaiah Robles, a Mexican-American actress and model born in 1996.
It is worth noting that while the name Anaiyah has gained popularity in recent decades, its historical roots and significance remain somewhat obscure. As with many modern names, it represents a blend of cultural influences and a desire for unique and meaningful monikers in an increasingly globalized world.
People
Anaiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anaiyah 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
Anaiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anaiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,570 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anaiyah 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 218,315 US residents.
Is Anaiyah a common name?
We classify Anaiyah as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,585 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anaiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Anaiyah was 2010, when 103 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anaiyah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anaiyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 997 people with the name Anaiyah, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,465 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 Anaiyah 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 Anaiyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anaiyah appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,001 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Anaiyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anaiyah is Black at 50.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.3%) and Two or More Races (10.8%). 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 Anaiyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Anaiyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.2% (500 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 Anaiyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anaiyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anaiyah 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 Anaiyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anaiyah 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 Anaiyah 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 Anaiyah?
You can see how many people have the name Anaiyah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.