Illa
A name of Arabic origin meaning "worshipper of God".
Name Census estimates that about 489 living Americans carry the first name Illa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Illa today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Illa births was 1926 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Illa. 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
489
~ 1 in 700,929 Americans
Peak year
1926
58 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,453
Tracked since 1898
Census
Illa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 763 people with the first name Illa, which placed it at #15,166 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
#15,166
National first-name rank
People counted
763
763 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Illa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Illa is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Black (8.5%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Illa 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 Illa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.2% · 589
- Black or African American8.5% · 65
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 36
- Two or more races3.9% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
Popularity
Illa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Illa from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 450 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Illa 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 Illa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Illas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Illa, while Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Illa
The given name Illa has its origins in various cultures and languages across the globe. It is believed to be derived from the Old Norse word "ill", meaning "great" or "powerful". This name was commonly used in Scandinavia during the Viking era, particularly in Iceland and Norway.
In the ancient Sanskrit language, the name Illa is thought to be related to the word "illa", which means "earth" or "soil". This suggests that the name may have roots in Indian culture and mythology, potentially symbolizing a connection to the earth or nature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Illa can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of literary works that date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas often featured characters with Norse names, including Illa.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Illa. One such person was Illa the Goth, a Gothic chieftain who lived in the 5th century AD and played a significant role in the overthrow of the Western Roman Empire.
Another prominent figure was Illa of Northumbria, a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon princess who was renowned for her piety and charitable works. She is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church.
In the realm of literature, Illa was the name of a character in the epic poem "Paradise Lost" by John Milton, published in 1667. This fictional figure represented one of the fallen angels who rebelled against God.
Moving forward in time, Illa Burney was a British philanthropist and social reformer who lived from 1818 to 1889. She dedicated her life to improving the living conditions of the poor and advocating for women's rights.
More recently, Illa Ponomarev was a Russian-born American artist and sculptor who lived from 1899 to 1974. Her sculptures and works of art can be found in various museums and galleries across the United States.
While the name Illa has ancient roots and has been used across different cultures, it remains a relatively uncommon name in modern times. However, its historical significance and diverse origins make it a fascinating and unique choice for a given name.
People
Illa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Illa 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
Illa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Illa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 489 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Illa 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 700,929 US residents.
Is Illa a common name?
We classify Illa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,790 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Illa most popular?
The single biggest year for Illa was 1926, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Illa is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Illa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 763 people with the name Illa, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,166 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 Illa 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 Illa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Illa appears almost entirely female. Of the 753 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Illa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Illa is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Black (8.5%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Illa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Illa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.2% (589 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 Illa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Illa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Illa 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 Illa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Illa 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 Illa 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 Illa?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.