Iliya
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "My God is YHWH".
Name Census estimates that about 228 living Americans carry the first name Iliya. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Iliya today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iliya births was 2020 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iliya. 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 Iliya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
228
~ 1 in 1,503,309 Americans
Peak year
2020
21 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,305
Tracked since 1995
Census
Iliya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 447 people with the first name Iliya, which placed it at #22,320 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
#22,320
National first-name rank
People counted
447
447 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Iliya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iliya is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.8%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Iliya 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 Iliya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.3% · 368
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.8% · 26
- Black or African American4.5% · 20
- Two or more races4.0% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Iliya
Iliya is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 230 total registrations, 184 (80.0%) were male and 46 (20.0%) were female.
Iliya as a male name
- Ranked #9,305 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (14 births)
Iliya as a female name
- Ranked #9,864 in 2023
- 10 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iliya leans strongly male. 380 people counted with this name were male (87.0%), compared with 57 female bearers (13.0%).
Popularity
Iliya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iliya 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 114 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Iliya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iliya 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 Iliya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Iliyas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Iliya
The name Iliya originates from the Greek language and is derived from the Hebrew name Eliyahu, which means "Yahweh is God." The name first appeared in ancient texts and religious scriptures, particularly in the Bible, where it refers to the prophet Elijah. The earliest recorded example of the name Iliya can be traced back to the 9th century BCE.
Iliya was a relatively common name among Eastern Orthodox Christians, particularly in regions such as Bulgaria, Russia, and Ukraine, where it was often used as a variant of the name Elijah. In the Byzantine Empire, the name gained popularity due to the veneration of the prophet Elijah, who was considered an important figure in Orthodox Christianity.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Iliya was Iliya Muromets, a legendary Russian bogatyr (warrior) from the 12th century. He was widely celebrated in Russian folklore and literature, and his exploits were often depicted in epic poems and tales.
Another prominent individual with the name Iliya was Iliya Gavrilis Petrov (1840-1917), a Bulgarian writer, journalist, and revolutionary. He played a significant role in the Bulgarian National Revival movement and the struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire.
In the 20th century, Iliya Mikhailovich Zhedrinov (1886-1954) was a Soviet military commander who served during World War II. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership and bravery in various battles against the German forces.
Iliya Pavlov (1897-1967) was a Bulgarian painter and one of the most influential figures in modern Bulgarian art. His works, which often depicted rural life and landscapes, were celebrated for their expressive style and use of color.
Iliya Kyuchkov (1904-1986) was a Bulgarian actor and director who made significant contributions to the development of Bulgarian theater. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of Bulgarian theatrical arts.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Iliya, reflecting its enduring presence and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Iliya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iliya 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
Iliya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iliya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 228 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iliya 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 1,503,309 US residents.
Is Iliya a common name?
We classify Iliya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 230 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iliya most popular?
The single biggest year for Iliya was 2020, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iliya 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 Iliya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 447 people with the name Iliya, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,320 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 Iliya 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 Iliya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iliya leans strongly male. 380 people counted with this name were male (87.0%), compared with 57 female bearers (13.0%). 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 Iliya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iliya is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.8%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Iliya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Iliya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (368 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 Iliya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Iliya a male name?
Yes, 80.0% of people registered as Iliya in the SSA data are male. 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 Iliya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Iliya 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 Iliya 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 Iliya?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.