Ayesha
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "alive" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 6,298 living Americans carry the first name Ayesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ayesha today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ayesha births was 2016 (177 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ayesha. 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 Ayesha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.3K
~ 1 in 54,423 Americans
Peak year
2016
177 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,367
Tracked since 1950
Census
Ayesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,144 people with the first name Ayesha, which placed it at #2,612 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
#2,612
National first-name rank
People counted
9.1K
9,144 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
66.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ayesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ayesha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 66.2%. The next largest groups are Black (21.3%) and White (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 Ayesha 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 Ayesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander66.2% · 6,050
- Black or African American21.3% · 1,952
- White4.6% · 421
- Two or more races4.0% · 364
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 318
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 39
Popularity
Ayesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ayesha from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,392 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ayesha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ayesha 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 Ayesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ayeshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Ayesha, while South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 211 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ayesha
The name Ayesha has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "al-hayah," which means "life" or "alive." This name has been in use for centuries and holds significant historical references.
One of the earliest and most prominent figures associated with the name Ayesha was Ayesha bint Abi Bakr, the youngest wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was born in 614 CE and played a crucial role in the early Islamic community, narrating many hadith (sayings of the Prophet) and contributing to the preservation of Islamic teachings.
Another notable figure in history bearing the name Ayesha was Ayesha al-Baauniyah, a 12th-century Islamic scholar and poet from Syria. She was renowned for her expertise in various fields, including Quranic exegesis, hadith, and literature.
In the 19th century, Ayesha Nana Majmu, also known as Hazrat Ayesha Nana, was a revered Sufi saint and spiritual leader from India. She was born in 1834 and is remembered for her teachings and contributions to the Sufi tradition.
Moving to the 20th century, Ayesha Jalal, born in 1948, is a renowned Pakistani-American historian and author. She is best known for her works on the history of South Asia, particularly her book "The Struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim Homeland and Global Politics."
Another prominent figure with the name Ayesha is Ayesha Fareed, a Pakistani actress and model born in 1981. She has appeared in numerous Pakistani television shows and films, gaining widespread recognition for her acting talents.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Ayesha. The name has endured across centuries and cultures, carrying with it a rich heritage and historical significance.
People
Ayesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ayesha 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
Ayesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ayesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,298 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ayesha 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 54,423 US residents.
Is Ayesha a common name?
We classify Ayesha as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,538 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ayesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Ayesha was 2016, when 177 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ayesha is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ayesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,144 people with the name Ayesha, or 3.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,612 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 Ayesha 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 Ayesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ayesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,146 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Ayesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ayesha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 66.2%. The next largest groups are Black (21.3%) and White (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 Ayesha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ayesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.2% (6,050 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 Ayesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ayesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ayesha 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 Ayesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ayesha 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 Ayesha 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 Ayesha?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Ayesha at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.