Halia
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "brilliant, gorgeous".
Name Census estimates that about 1,017 living Americans carry the first name Halia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Halia today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Halia births was 2023 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Halia. 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 Halia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Halia 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 337,025 Americans
Peak year
2023
64 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,828
Tracked since 1997
Census
Halia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 725 people with the first name Halia, which placed it at #15,757 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
#15,757
National first-name rank
People counted
725
725 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Halia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Halia is White at 33.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (22.3%) and Hispanic (21.9%). 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 Halia 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 Halia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.9% · 246
- Two or more races22.3% · 162
- Hispanic or Latino21.9% · 159
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.0% · 80
- Black or African American9.5% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 9
Popularity
Halia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Halia 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 382 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Halia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Halia 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 Halia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Halias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Hawaii, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Halia, while Arizona, Washington, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Halia
The name Halia is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, where it was derived from the word "halia" meaning "turmeric." This vibrant golden spice held great cultural significance in various regions of the Indian subcontinent, often associated with auspiciousness, purity, and healing properties.
During the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE, the name Halia can be found mentioned in several Vedic texts, such as the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda, where it is referenced in connection with various rituals and ceremonies involving the use of turmeric.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Halia can be traced back to the 6th century BCE, when it was borne by a renowned Sanskrit scholar and grammarian, Halia Pathaka. Her contributions to the field of linguistics and grammar were highly regarded during her time.
In the 3rd century BCE, Halia Datta, a celebrated poet and playwright, gained recognition for her works that explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. Her plays were widely performed and appreciated throughout the ancient Indian kingdoms.
During the Gupta Empire, which ruled from the 4th to 6th centuries CE, the name Halia gained further prominence. Halia Gupta, a skilled artisan and sculptor, is credited with creating some of the most exquisite stone carvings and sculptures that adorned the grand temples and palaces of the Gupta rulers.
In the 9th century CE, Halia Devi, a revered mystic and spiritual teacher, gained a significant following among the devotees of the Bhakti movement. Her teachings on devotion, compassion, and self-realization inspired many and left a lasting impact on the spiritual landscape of the time.
Another notable figure bearing the name Halia was Halia Parameshvara, a brilliant mathematician and astronomer who lived during the 12th century CE. Her groundbreaking work in the field of astronomy and her contributions to the development of mathematical concepts were highly acclaimed by scholars of her era.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who carried the name Halia, each leaving an indelible mark on various aspects of ancient Indian culture, arts, sciences, and spirituality.
People
Halia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Halia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Halia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Halia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,017 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Halia 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 337,025 US residents.
Is Halia a common name?
We classify Halia as "Rare". It ranks above 90.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,027 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Halia most popular?
The single biggest year for Halia was 2023, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Halia is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Halia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 725 people with the name Halia, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,757 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 Halia 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 Halia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Halia appears almost entirely female. Of the 730 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Halia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Halia is White at 33.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (22.3%) and Hispanic (21.9%). 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 Halia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Halia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.9% (246 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 Halia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Halia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Halia 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 Halia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Halia 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 Halia 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 share the name Halia?
Want to know how many Americans are named Halia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.