Ileah
A feminine name of unknown meaning and origin, potentially Hebrew.
Name Census estimates that about 277 living Americans carry the first name Ileah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ileah today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ileah births was 1981 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ileah. 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
277
~ 1 in 1,237,380 Americans
Peak year
1981
16 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2021 SSA rank
#14,149
Tracked since 1980
Census
Ileah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 270 people with the first name Ileah, which placed it at #31,633 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
#31,633
National first-name rank
People counted
270
270 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ileah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ileah is White at 44.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.3%) and Black (16.7%). 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 Ileah 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 Ileah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.4% · 120
- Hispanic or Latino23.3% · 63
- Black or African American16.7% · 45
- Two or more races11.9% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 4
Popularity
Ileah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ileah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 74 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ileah 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 Ileah 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 Ileah
The name Ileah is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, with its earliest roots dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "ilah," which means "oak tree" or "terebinth." The name is also closely related to the Hebrew name "Elah," which shares the same meaning.
In the Bible, the name Elah is mentioned in the Book of Isaiah, where it is used to refer to a strong and sturdy tree, often associated with strength, resilience, and longevity. The name Ileah is thought to be a variant or diminutive form of Elah, carrying similar symbolic meanings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ileah can be found in the ancient Hebrew texts, where it was used as a feminine name. However, it was not a widely popular name during that time, and its usage remained relatively rare.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Ileah. One such person was Ileah ben Avraham, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and philosopher from Andalusia, Spain. He is known for his contributions to the study of Jewish law and ethics.
Another notable figure was Ileah al-Baghdadi, an 11th-century Muslim scholar and astronomer from Baghdad, Iraq. She is recognized for her work on celestial mechanics and her significant contributions to the field of astronomy during the Islamic Golden Age.
In the 19th century, Ileah Weston was a prominent American author and activist who wrote extensively on women's rights and social reform. She was born in 1825 and played a significant role in the early feminist movement in the United States.
Ileah Leigh was a British actress and playwright who lived in the early 20th century. She was known for her performances in various theater productions and her contributions to the London theater scene during the Edwardian era.
Ileah Manuella was a renowned Italian painter and sculptor who lived during the Renaissance period. Her artwork, which often depicted religious and mythological themes, was highly regarded and can be found in various museums and collections across Italy.
It is important to note that while the name Ileah has a rich historical background, its usage has been relatively uncommon throughout the centuries, especially in modern times. However, its unique and distinctive sound, coupled with its meaningful origins, may contribute to its appeal and potential resurgence in popularity.
People
Ileah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ileah 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
Ileah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ileah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 277 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ileah 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 1,237,380 US residents.
Is Ileah a common name?
We classify Ileah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 286 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ileah most popular?
The single biggest year for Ileah was 1981, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ileah is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ileah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 270 people with the name Ileah, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,633 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 Ileah 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 Ileah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ileah appears almost entirely female. Of the 269 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 Ileah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ileah is White at 44.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.3%) and Black (16.7%). 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 Ileah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ileah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.4% (120 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 Ileah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ileah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ileah 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 Ileah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ileah 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 Ileah 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 Ileah?
Want to know how many people share the name Ileah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.