Aneesa
From Arabic, meaning "friendly woman" or "companion".
Name Census estimates that about 1,541 living Americans carry the first name Aneesa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aneesa today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aneesa births was 2002 (159 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aneesa. 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 Aneesa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 222,423 Americans
Peak year
2002
159 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,616
Tracked since 1967
Census
Aneesa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,520 people with the first name Aneesa, which placed it at #9,238 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
#9,238
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,520 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
27.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aneesa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aneesa is Black at 27.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (23.9%) and Hispanic (22.0%). 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 Aneesa 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 Aneesa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American27.3% · 415
- Asian and Pacific Islander23.9% · 364
- Hispanic or Latino22.0% · 335
- White14.3% · 218
- Two or more races11.5% · 175
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 13
Popularity
Aneesa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aneesa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 802 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
Aneesa 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 Aneesa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aneesas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Aneesa, while Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aneesa
The name Aneesa originates from the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic root word "uns," which means companionship or intimacy. The name is believed to have originated around the 7th century CE during the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.
In Arabic, the name Aneesa is written as أنيسة (Aneesa). It is a feminine form of the masculine name Anees, which also stems from the same root word "uns." The name is commonly found in various Arabic-speaking regions, including the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Aneesa can be found in Islamic literature, particularly in hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). There are mentions of women named Aneesa during the early Islamic era, indicating the name's usage among the Muslim community at that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Aneesa. One of the earliest recorded examples is Aneesa bint Malik (born circa 620 CE), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the early converts to Islam. Another prominent figure is Aneesa al-Qurashiya (born around 650 CE), a renowned Muslim scholar and poet from Medina.
In the modern era, Aneesa Hemat (1934-2008) was a celebrated Afghan educator and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in promoting female education in Afghanistan. Aneesa Feras (born 1972) is a Jordanian journalist and television personality known for her work in advocating for human rights and social issues.
Aneesa Waheed (born 1980) is a British actress and writer who has appeared in various television shows and films, including "Eastenders" and "Doctors." Aneesa Abbas (born 1981) is a Pakistani squash player who has represented her country in numerous international tournaments and won several titles.
Aneesa Ferreira (born 1991) is a professional surfer from Hawaii who has achieved significant success in the World Surf League, winning multiple championships and being recognized as one of the top female surfers in the world.
People
Aneesa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aneesa 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
Aneesa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aneesa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,541 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aneesa 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 222,423 US residents.
Is Aneesa a common name?
We classify Aneesa as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,571 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aneesa most popular?
The single biggest year for Aneesa was 2002, when 159 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aneesa is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aneesa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,520 people with the name Aneesa, or 0.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,238 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 Aneesa 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 Aneesa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aneesa appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,522 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Aneesa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aneesa is Black at 27.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (23.9%) and Hispanic (22.0%). 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 Aneesa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Aneesa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 27.3% (415 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 Aneesa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aneesa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aneesa 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 Aneesa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aneesa 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 Aneesa 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 Aneesa?
Find out how many people have the name Aneesa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.