Hiya
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "a ray of light".
Name Census estimates that about 219 living Americans carry the first name Hiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hiya today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hiya births was 2012 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hiya. 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 Hiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
219
~ 1 in 1,565,088 Americans
Peak year
2012
17 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,102
Tracked since 2002
Census
Hiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 217 people with the first name Hiya, which placed it at #36,520 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
#36,520
National first-name rank
People counted
217
217 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hiya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.6%. The next largest groups are White (7.4%) and Black (6.0%). 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 Hiya 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 Hiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander86.6% · 188
- White7.4% · 16
- Black or African American6.0% · 13
Popularity
Hiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hiya from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 108 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hiya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hiya 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 Hiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hiyas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hiya
The name Hiya originates from the Sanskrit language and has its roots in ancient Indian culture, dating back to the 3rd century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "hiya," which means "heart" or "soul." The name gained popularity across the Indian subcontinent during the classical period of Indian history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hiya can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Hiya is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava princes. This reference suggests that the name was in use among the warrior class of the time.
During the Gupta Empire, which ruled over much of northern India from the 4th to the 6th century CE, the name Hiya became more widespread. Several historical records from this period mention individuals bearing this name, indicating its popularity among the nobility and ruling classes.
In the 8th century CE, a famous Indian mathematician and astronomer named Hiya Bhaskara made significant contributions to the field of mathematics. His works, including the "Hiya Siddhanta," a treatise on astronomical calculations, are widely studied and referenced even today.
Another notable figure in Indian history with the name Hiya was Hiya Devi, a 10th-century queen of the Chandela dynasty. She was known for her patronage of art and architecture, and several temples and monuments were built under her reign, including the famous Khajuraho temples.
During the Mughal period in India, which spanned from the 16th to the 19th century, the name Hiya gained further popularity. One of the most prominent figures from this era was Hiya Khan, a renowned military commander who served under the Mughal Emperor Akbar. He was known for his bravery and strategic skills in various battles.
Over the centuries, the name Hiya has remained a popular choice in various regions of India, particularly in the northern and central parts of the country. It has also been adopted by other cultures and communities, with variations in spelling and pronunciation.
People
Hiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hiya 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
Hiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 219 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hiya 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 1,565,088 US residents.
Is Hiya a common name?
We classify Hiya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 221 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Hiya was 2012, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hiya is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 217 people with the name Hiya, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,520 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 Hiya 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 Hiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hiya leans strongly female. 216 people counted with this name were female (97.7%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.3%). 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 Hiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hiya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.6%. The next largest groups are White (7.4%) and Black (6.0%). 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 Hiya most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (188 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 Hiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hiya 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 Hiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hiya 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 Hiya 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 Hiya?
See how many Americans are named Hiya on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.