Ayanna
A feminine name of African origin meaning "she is beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 15,730 living Americans carry the first name Ayanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ayanna today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ayanna births was 2003 (847 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ayanna. 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 Ayanna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,790 Americans
Peak year
2003
847 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,174
Tracked since 1971
Census
Ayanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,871 people with the first name Ayanna, which placed it at #2,093 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
#2,093
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,871 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
69.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ayanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ayanna is Black at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Two or More Races (8.2%). 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 Ayanna 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 Ayanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American69.9% · 9,002
- Hispanic or Latino14.2% · 1,825
- Two or more races8.2% · 1,057
- White4.7% · 603
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 270
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 114
Popularity
Ayanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ayanna from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 6,246 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
Ayanna 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 Ayanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ayannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Ayanna, while Hawaii, Nebraska, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 359 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ayanna
The name Ayanna is a feminine name of African origin, specifically from the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast. It is a combination of two words in the Akan language: "aya," meaning "berry" or "seed," and "nna," meaning "to be with." Together, the name Ayanna can be interpreted as "bearer of seeds" or "one who carries seeds."
The earliest recorded use of the name Ayanna dates back to the 18th century in West Africa, particularly among the Akan people. It was a name commonly given to girls born during the rainy season, symbolizing the seeds that would be planted and nurtured to grow into bountiful crops.
In the 19th century, the name Ayanna gained popularity among the Akan diaspora communities in the Americas, particularly in the Caribbean and parts of the United States. This was due to the forced migration of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade, who carried their cultural traditions and naming practices with them.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ayanna was in the late 18th century, when an Akan woman named Ayanna Asantewaa led a rebellion against British colonial rule in modern-day Ghana. Her resistance and leadership became an inspiration for many in the fight for independence and empowerment.
Another notable figure in history with the name Ayanna was Ayanna Pressley, born in 1974, who became the first woman of color elected to the Boston City Council in 2009 and later the first Black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts in 2018.
Other famous individuals named Ayanna include:
1. Ayanna Howard, born in 1972, an American roboticist and professor known for her work in robotics and artificial intelligence.
2. Ayanna Bakari, born in 1950, an American jazz singer and songwriter who has performed with notable artists such as Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton.
3. Ayanna Nahmias, born in 1988, an American actress known for her roles in television series like "The Chi" and "Utopia."
4. Ayanna Dozier, born in 1985, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
5. Ayanna Jahworks, born in 1982, a Canadian artist and activist known for her work in promoting Indigenous rights and cultural awareness.
People
Ayanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ayanna 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
Ayanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ayanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,730 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ayanna 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 21,790 US residents.
Is Ayanna a common name?
We classify Ayanna as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,163 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ayanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Ayanna was 2003, when 847 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ayanna is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ayanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,871 people with the name Ayanna, or 4.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,093 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 Ayanna 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 Ayanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ayanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,867 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Ayanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ayanna is Black at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Two or More Races (8.2%). 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 Ayanna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ayanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.9% (9,002 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 Ayanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ayanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ayanna 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 Ayanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ayanna 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 Ayanna 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 Americans are named Ayanna?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.