Haya
A feminine Arabic name meaning "life" or "to live".
Name Census estimates that about 1,561 living Americans carry the first name Haya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Haya today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haya births was 2024 (110 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haya. 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 Haya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Haya 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 219,574 Americans
Peak year
2024
110 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,822
Tracked since 1960
Census
Haya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,564 people with the first name Haya, which placed it at #9,056 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
#9,056
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,564 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Haya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haya is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Haya 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 Haya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.4% · 1,070
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.1% · 345
- Two or more races4.7% · 74
- Black or African American2.5% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Haya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haya from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 626 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Haya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Haya 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 Haya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Haya, while Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 62 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Haya
The name Haya has its origins in several languages and cultures, primarily rooted in the Arabic and Hebrew traditions. Derived from the Arabic word "hayat," meaning "life" or "existence," the name Haya carries connotations of vitality, liveliness, and animation.
In Arabic culture, the name Haya is often associated with modesty, shyness, and propriety, stemming from the word "hayaa," which translates to "bashfulness" or "shyness." This duality of meanings reflects the multifaceted nature of the name, representing both the essence of life and the virtues of humility.
The Hebrew equivalent of Haya is "Chaya," derived from the root word "chai," meaning "alive" or "living." In the Hebrew tradition, the name is often interpreted as a symbol of spiritual vitality and connection to the divine source of life. It has been documented in ancient Jewish texts, including the Torah and the Talmud, where it was borne by several notable figures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Haya can be traced back to the 6th century BCE, when it was mentioned in the Book of Ezra, a part of the Hebrew Bible. In this text, Haya is listed as one of the Levites who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Haya, leaving their mark in various fields:
1. Haya al-Nūrī (1858-1898), an influential Iraqi poet and scholar, known for her contributions to Arabic literature and her advocacy for women's education.
2. Haya Rashed Al Khalifa (1952-2016), a Bahraini lawyer and the first woman in the Arab Gulf region to serve as a judge, breaking barriers for women in the legal profession.
3. Haya Rayhana (1911-1992), a Lebanese-American writer and poet, whose works explored themes of love, identity, and the experiences of Arab women in the diaspora.
4. Haya Harati (born 1975), a Saudi Arabian activist and advocate for women's rights, known for her efforts in promoting gender equality and challenging societal norms.
5. Haya Molcho (born 1955), an Israeli chef and author, renowned for her contributions to the culinary world and her efforts in promoting Middle Eastern cuisine on a global scale.
While the name Haya has undergone various linguistic and cultural adaptations, it has consistently maintained its essence of representing life, vitality, and the virtues of modesty and humility across different traditions and time periods.
People
Haya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haya 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
Haya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,561 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haya 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 219,574 US residents.
Is Haya a common name?
We classify Haya as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,579 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haya most popular?
The single biggest year for Haya was 2024, when 110 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haya 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 Haya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,564 people with the name Haya, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,056 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 Haya 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 Haya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Haya appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,567 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Haya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haya is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Haya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Haya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.4% (1,070 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 Haya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Haya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Haya 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 Haya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Haya 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 Haya 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 have Haya as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Haya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.