Atalaya
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "watchtower" or "lookout point".
Name Census estimates that about 230 living Americans carry the first name Atalaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Atalaya today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Atalaya births was 2018 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Atalaya. 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
230
~ 1 in 1,490,236 Americans
Peak year
2018
14 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,984
Tracked since 1971
Census
Atalaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 197 people with the first name Atalaya, which placed it at #38,754 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
#38,754
National first-name rank
People counted
197
197 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
37.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Atalaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Atalaya is White at 37.1%. The next largest groups are Black (30.5%) and Hispanic (25.9%). 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 Atalaya 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 Atalaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White37.1% · 73
- Black or African American30.5% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino25.9% · 51
- Two or more races5.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Atalaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Atalaya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 89 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Atalaya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Atalaya 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 Atalaya 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 Atalaya
The name Atalaya has its origins in the Spanish language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "at-talaya," which means "the watchtower" or "the lookout." This name's roots can be traced back to the time when the Moors ruled over parts of the Iberian Peninsula, from the 8th to the 15th century.
During this period, the Moors established a network of watchtowers, known as "atalayas," along the coastlines and strategic locations. These towers served as lookout points for spotting potential enemies or incoming ships. The name Atalaya became associated with these structures and their importance in protecting the land.
The earliest recorded use of the name Atalaya can be found in historical documents and records from the medieval period in Spain. It was often used as a place name or a surname, referring to individuals who lived near or were responsible for maintaining these watchtowers.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Atalaya was Atalaya de Bétera, a 13th-century Spanish noblewoman from the Kingdom of Valencia. She played a significant role in the defense of the city of Bétera during the Reconquista period, when the Christian kingdoms were reclaiming territories from the Moors.
Another historical figure bearing the name Atalaya was Atalaya de Córdoba, a 14th-century Moorish poet and scholar from the city of Córdoba in Andalusia. Her literary works and contributions to the arts and sciences were highly regarded during her time.
In the 16th century, there was a Spanish explorer named Juan de Atalaya, who participated in several expeditions to the Americas and helped establish settlements in present-day Mexico and Central America.
During the 17th century, a notable figure named Atalaya de Santander was a prominent architect and engineer responsible for designing and constructing several fortifications and defensive structures along the northern coast of Spain.
In the 18th century, Atalaya de Cádiz was a Spanish naval officer who played a crucial role in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, a significant naval engagement during the Anglo-Spanish War.
While the name Atalaya is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of Spanish heritage and culture, reflecting the importance of watchtowers and coastal defense in the country's history.
People
Atalaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Atalaya 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
Atalaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Atalaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 230 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Atalaya 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 1,490,236 US residents.
Is Atalaya a common name?
We classify Atalaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 235 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Atalaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Atalaya was 2018, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Atalaya is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Atalaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 197 people with the name Atalaya, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,754 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 Atalaya 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 Atalaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Atalaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 190 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Atalaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Atalaya is White at 37.1%. The next largest groups are Black (30.5%) and Hispanic (25.9%). 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 Atalaya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Atalaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.1% (73 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 Atalaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Atalaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Atalaya 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 Atalaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Atalaya 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 Atalaya 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 have the name Atalaya?
See how many Americans are named Atalaya on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.