Ayeisha
Feminine Arabic name meaning alive, lively, prosperous.
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the first name Ayeisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ayeisha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ayeisha births was 1980 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ayeisha. 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 Ayeisha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
131
~ 1 in 2,616,445 Americans
Peak year
1980
9 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2009 SSA rank
#13,903
Tracked since 1974
Census
Ayeisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 196 people with the first name Ayeisha, which placed it at #38,869 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
#38,869
National first-name rank
People counted
196
196 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
55.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ayeisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ayeisha is Black at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Ayeisha 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 Ayeisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American55.1% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino31.1% · 61
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 9
- Two or more races4.1% · 8
- White3.6% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 3
Popularity
Ayeisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ayeisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 48 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Ayeisha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ayeisha 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 Ayeisha 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 Ayeisha
The name Ayeisha originated from the Arabic language and culture. It is a feminine name derived from the Arabic word "Al-Hayat," meaning "life" or "liveliness." The name can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic Golden Age.
In Islamic tradition, Ayeisha was the name of one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad. She was known for her intelligence, wisdom, and her role in transmitting and preserving the teachings of Islam. Her full name was Ayeisha bint Abi Bakr, and she lived from 614 to 678 CE.
The name Ayeisha has been mentioned in various historical texts and religious scriptures, including the Quran and the Hadith (the recorded sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad). These writings have played a significant role in the popularity and spread of the name across the Islamic world.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Ayeisha can be found in the works of the renowned Arab historian and scholar, Ibn Ishaq, who lived in the 8th century CE. He documented the life of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions, including the wife Ayeisha.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Ayeisha. One such figure was Ayeisha al-Taimuriya (1384-1459), a renowned scholar and poet from the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. She was celebrated for her contributions to Arabic literature and her expertise in various fields, including Islamic jurisprudence and astronomy.
Another significant figure was Ayeisha Siddiqa (1913-1996), a Pakistani scholar and Islamic theologian who played a crucial role in the women's rights movement in Pakistan. She advocated for women's education and their active participation in social and political spheres.
In the realm of literature, Ayeisha Nadriya (1856-1950) was a prominent Egyptian writer and feminist activist. She was one of the pioneers of the Arab feminist movement and authored several works advocating for women's rights and education.
Ayeisha Chaudhary (1934-2018) was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, for her contributions to the art of Kathak dance.
Ayeisha Gaddafi (1976-2011) was the only daughter of the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. She played a significant role in her father's regime and was involved in various humanitarian and charitable initiatives in Libya.
People
Ayeisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ayeisha 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
Ayeisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ayeisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 131 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ayeisha 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 2,616,445 US residents.
Is Ayeisha a common name?
We classify Ayeisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 137 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ayeisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Ayeisha was 1980, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ayeisha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ayeisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 196 people with the name Ayeisha, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,869 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 Ayeisha 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 Ayeisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ayeisha leans strongly female. 189 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Ayeisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ayeisha is Black at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Ayeisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ayeisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.1% (108 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 Ayeisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ayeisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ayeisha 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 Ayeisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ayeisha 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 Ayeisha 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 are named Ayeisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.