Ilyana
A feminine name of Russian origin meaning "the Lord is my God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,360 living Americans carry the first name Ilyana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ilyana today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ilyana births was 2012 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ilyana. 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 Ilyana with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ilyana is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 252,025 Americans
Peak year
2012
77 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,407
Tracked since 1978
Census
Ilyana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 978 people with the first name Ilyana, which placed it at #12,647 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
#12,647
National first-name rank
People counted
978
978 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
53.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ilyana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilyana is Hispanic at 53.6%. The next largest groups are White (25.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.9%). 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 Ilyana 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 Ilyana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino53.6% · 524
- White25.8% · 252
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.9% · 67
- Two or more races6.9% · 67
- Black or African American6.2% · 61
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 7
Popularity
Ilyana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ilyana from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 656 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ilyana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ilyana 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 Ilyana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ilyanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Ilyana, while North Carolina, Washington, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ilyana
The name Ilyana has its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly Russian and Ukrainian. It is a feminine form of the name Ilya, which is derived from the Greek name Elias, meaning "the Lord is my God." The name Ilyana emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 11th to 13th centuries, in regions that are now part of modern-day Russia and Ukraine.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ilyana can be found in the Laurentian Codex, a medieval Russian chronicle dating back to the 14th century. The chronicle mentions an Ilyana Ivanovna, who was the wife of a prominent Muscovite nobleman.
In the realm of religious history, the name Ilyana is associated with several saints and martyrs. One notable figure is Saint Ilyana of Cherson, who lived in the 5th century and was known for her dedication to helping the poor and needy. She is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ilyana. One of the earliest examples is Ilyana Sinskaya (c. 1554-1600), a Russian noblewoman and lady-in-waiting to Tsarina Irina Godunova. Another prominent figure was Ilyana Kuragina (1766-1831), a Russian countess and a member of the Kuragine family, known for her literary salon in St. Petersburg.
In the 19th century, Ilyana Vasilchikova (1815-1889) was a Russian philanthropist and educator who founded several schools and orphanages in Moscow. Ilyana Blazhennaya (1891-1962), also known as the "Holy Fool of Omsk," was a Russian mystic and ascetic who gained a reputation for her prophetic abilities and kindness towards the poor.
Another notable figure is Ilyana Muromtseva (1914-2003), a Soviet and Russian mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of partial differential equations. She was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1968.
These historical examples showcase the rich heritage and diverse backgrounds of individuals who have borne the name Ilyana over the centuries, spanning various fields and regions across Eastern Europe and Russia.
People
Ilyana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ilyana 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
Ilyana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ilyana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,360 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ilyana 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 252,025 US residents.
Is Ilyana a common name?
We classify Ilyana as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,374 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ilyana most popular?
The single biggest year for Ilyana was 2012, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ilyana 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 Ilyana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 978 people with the name Ilyana, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,647 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 Ilyana 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 Ilyana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ilyana appears almost entirely female. Of the 980 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Ilyana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilyana is Hispanic at 53.6%. The next largest groups are White (25.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.9%). 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 Ilyana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ilyana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.6% (524 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 Ilyana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ilyana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ilyana 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 Ilyana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ilyana 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 Ilyana 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 common is the name Ilyana?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.