Ilya
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "The Lord is God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,145 living Americans carry the first name Ilya. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Ilya today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ilya births was 2018 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ilya. 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.
Key insights
- • Ilya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 299,349 Americans
Peak year
2018
65 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,623
Tracked since 1961
Gender
Gender distribution for Ilya
Ilya leans heavily male at 80.2% of total registrations, but 230 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ilya as a male name
- Ranked #3,623 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (48 births)
Ilya as a female name
- Ranked #7,031 in 2024
- 16 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (25 births)
Popularity
Ilya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ilya from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 454 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ilya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ilya 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 Ilya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ilyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Washington recorded the most babies named Ilya, while Texas, Florida, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ilya
The given name Ilya has its origins in the Russian and Slavic languages, tracing back to the Greek name Elias. It is derived from the Hebrew name Eliyahu, which means "My God is Yahweh" or "Jehovah is God." This name has a significant religious and cultural significance in various traditions.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Elijah (or Elias in Greek) was a prominent prophet known for his miracles and confrontation with the pagan priests of Baal. His name is mentioned numerous times throughout the biblical texts, making it a revered name in Judeo-Christian traditions.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Ilya can be found in medieval Slavic documents, particularly in Russia and other Eastern European regions influenced by the Orthodox Christian faith. The name gained popularity among Eastern Slavic populations due to its connection with the biblical prophet and the veneration of saints in Orthodox Christianity.
One of the most famous historical figures bearing the name Ilya was Ilya Muromets, a semi-legendary Russian bogatyr (warrior) and hero of the Russian epic byliny (folk tales) from the 12th century. His exploits and bravery in defending the Russian lands have been celebrated in numerous literary works and folklore.
Another notable Ilya was Ilya Repin (1844-1930), a renowned Russian realist artist known for his masterpieces such as "Barge Haulers on the Volga" and "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan." His works captured the essence of Russian life and had a significant impact on the development of Russian art.
In the realm of literature, Ilya Ehrenburg (1891-1967) was a prominent Soviet writer, journalist, and cultural figure. He was known for his novels, short stories, and memoirs that depicted the Russian Revolution and the struggles of the Soviet people during World War II.
Another influential figure was Ilya Prigogine (1917-2003), a Russian-born Belgian physicist and chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977 for his groundbreaking work on dissipative structures and the theory of irreversible processes in physical and chemical systems.
Ilya Kabakov (born 1933) is a celebrated Russian-American conceptual artist and art theorist, whose installations and artworks explore themes of Soviet life, memory, and the human condition. His works have been exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Ilya, a name steeped in religious and cultural significance, reflecting its enduring presence across various societies and disciplines.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ilya
People
Ilya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ilya 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
Ilya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ilya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,145 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ilya 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 299,349 US residents.
Is Ilya a common name?
We classify Ilya as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,161 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ilya most popular?
The single biggest year for Ilya was 2018, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ilya is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ilya a male name?
Yes, 80.2% of people registered as Ilya 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.
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.