Anniyah
A name of Arabic origin meaning "answered prayer" or "gift from God".
Name Census estimates that about 804 living Americans carry the first name Anniyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anniyah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anniyah births was 2009 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anniyah. 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
804
~ 1 in 426,311 Americans
Peak year
2009
63 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,159
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Anniyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anniyah 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 393 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anniyah 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 Anniyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anniyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Anniyah, while Michigan, Illinois, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anniyah
The name Anniyah is a feminine Arabic name derived from the word "Ani" meaning "to return" or "to come back." It is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the 7th century AD, around the time of the Islamic Golden Age.
The earliest known record of the name Anniyah can be traced back to a poem written by the famous Arabic poet Al-Khansa (575-645 AD), where she mentions a woman named Anniyah. This suggests that the name was already in use during the early days of Islam.
In Islamic tradition, the name Anniyah is often associated with the concept of repentance and returning to Allah. It is believed that the name carries a spiritual significance and serves as a reminder for individuals to seek forgiveness and embrace a righteous path.
One of the most renowned historical figures with the name Anniyah was Anniyah bint Abi Bakr (610-684 AD), the daughter of the first Caliph of Islam, Abu Bakr. She was known for her piety, knowledge of the Quran, and her role as a respected scholar and teacher.
Another notable figure was Anniyah al-Sulami (d. 920 AD), a Sufi mystic and poet from Baghdad. Her writings and teachings had a profound impact on the development of Sufism and Islamic spirituality during the Abbasid Caliphate.
In the 12th century, Anniyah al-Qurashiya (1098-1180 AD) was a prominent female scholar and jurist from Cordoba, Andalusia. She was highly respected for her expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the field of Maliki fiqh.
During the Ottoman Empire, Anniyah Sultan (1533-1605) was a influential member of the Ottoman imperial family. She was the daughter of Sultan Selim II and played a significant role in the political and cultural affairs of the empire.
More recently, Anniyah Nana Mahmoud (1923-2018) was a renowned Egyptian writer and journalist. She was known for her powerful literary works that explored themes of social justice, women's rights, and the struggles of the Arab world.
People
Anniyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anniyah 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
Anniyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anniyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 804 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anniyah 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 426,311 US residents.
Is Anniyah a common name?
We classify Anniyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 812 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anniyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Anniyah was 2009, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anniyah is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Anniyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anniyah 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.