Iisha
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "she who lives".
Name Census estimates that about 238 living Americans carry the first name Iisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Iisha today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iisha births was 1977 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iisha. 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.
People living today
238
~ 1 in 1,440,144 Americans
Peak year
1977
21 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1998 SSA rank
#13,028
Tracked since 1973
Census
Iisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Iisha, which placed it at #36,618 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
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Iisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iisha is Black at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and White (7.4%). 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 Iisha 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 Iisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American75.9% · 164
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 19
- White7.4% · 16
- Two or more races3.7% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Iisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iisha from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 111 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Iisha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iisha 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 Iisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Iisha
The name Iisha is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that was primarily spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The name is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "Isha," which means "lord" or "ruler." This suggests that the name Iisha may have been initially used to denote someone with authority or a high social standing.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Iisha can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, where it was used as a reference to the divine beings or deities. In the Rigveda, one of the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, there are mentions of the name Iisha in hymns and prayers.
During the ancient and medieval periods, the name Iisha was primarily used by individuals from the Indian subcontinent, particularly those with Hindu or Buddhist backgrounds. Over time, the name spread to other parts of the world through migration and cultural exchange.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Iisha was Iisha Nath, a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 9th century CE. He made significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the areas of algebra and trigonometry.
Another notable person with the name Iisha was Iisha Upanishad, a renowned Hindu philosopher and spiritual teacher who lived in the 8th century CE. He is credited with writing the Iisha Upanishad, one of the principal Upanishads of Hinduism, which explores the concept of the supreme reality and the nature of the self.
In the 12th century, there was Iisha Khan, a powerful Muslim ruler who served as the governor of the Delhi Sultanate. He played a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation of the Sultanate's territories.
During the 16th century, Iisha Samanta was a notable figure in the field of Indian classical music. She was a renowned vocalist and is considered one of the pioneers of the Dhrupad style of singing.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals with the name Iisha was Iisha Ray, an Indian actress and dancer who lived from 1923 to 2005. She was a prominent figure in the Bengali film industry and was known for her performances in both mainstream and art-house cinema.
People
Iisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iisha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Iisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iisha 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 1,440,144 US residents.
Is Iisha a common name?
We classify Iisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 254 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Iisha was 1977, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iisha is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Iisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Iisha, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 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 Iisha 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 Iisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 210 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Iisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iisha is Black at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and White (7.4%). 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 Iisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Iisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (164 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 Iisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Iisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Iisha 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 Iisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Iisha 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 Iisha 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 the name Iisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.