Caliyah
Beautiful, pleasant, precious; a feminine name of Arabic origin.
Name Census estimates that about 1,923 living Americans carry the first name Caliyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caliyah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caliyah births was 2017 (106 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caliyah. 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.
Key insights
- • Caliyah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 178,239 Americans
Peak year
2017
106 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,303
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Caliyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caliyah 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 960 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Caliyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caliyah 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 Caliyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caliyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Florida, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Caliyah, while Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Caliyah
The name Caliyah is of Arabic origin, derived from the Arabic word "caliya" or "qaliya", which means "to roast" or "to fry". It is believed to have been used as a name during the medieval period in the Middle East and North Africa.
The earliest recorded use of the name Caliyah can be traced back to the 11th century, when it was mentioned in some Arabic literature and poetry. It was a relatively uncommon name during that time, but it gained popularity among certain Arab tribes and communities.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Caliyah was a 12th-century Arab poet and scholar from Andalusia, Caliyah bint Yahya al-Andalusi (born c. 1130). She was renowned for her contributions to Arabic literature and her work in preserving the cultural heritage of the region.
Another notable figure with the name Caliyah was Caliyah al-Dimashqi (1241-1301), a Syrian scholar and jurist who played a significant role in the development of Islamic jurisprudence during the Mamluk period.
In the 16th century, Caliyah al-Baghdadi (1520-1598) was a renowned calligrapher and artist from Baghdad, known for her intricate and beautiful calligraphic works.
The name Caliyah also appeared in some historical records from the Ottoman Empire. Caliyah Hatun (c. 1550-1620) was a prominent Ottoman noblewoman and philanthropist who founded several educational institutions and charitable organizations in Istanbul.
Another individual with the name Caliyah was Caliyah Bey (1807-1876), an Ottoman statesman and diplomat who served as the ambassador to several European countries during the 19th century.
While the name Caliyah has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has since been adopted and used in various parts of the world, particularly in communities with Arabic or Islamic influences.
People
Caliyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caliyah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Caliyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caliyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,923 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caliyah 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 178,239 US residents.
Is Caliyah a common name?
We classify Caliyah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,941 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caliyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Caliyah was 2017, when 106 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caliyah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Caliyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caliyah 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.