Iyla
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "small, diminutive".
Name Census estimates that about 3,445 living Americans carry the first name Iyla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Iyla today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iyla births was 2024 (532 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iyla. 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 Iyla with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Iyla is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 99,493 Americans
Peak year
2024
532 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#565
Tracked since 1929
Census
Iyla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,338 people with the first name Iyla, which placed it at #10,094 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
#10,094
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,338 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Iyla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iyla is White at 60.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.0%) and Two or More Races (10.9%). 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 Iyla 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 Iyla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.3% · 807
- Hispanic or Latino12.0% · 161
- Two or more races10.9% · 146
- Black or African American9.3% · 125
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.8% · 91
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 8
Popularity
Iyla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iyla from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 2,094 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iyla 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 Iyla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Iylas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Iyla, while Mississippi, Idaho, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Iyla
The name Iyla is a modern variant of the Hebrew name Ilana, which means "tree" or "oak tree." The name has its roots in ancient Semitic languages and can be traced back to biblical times. While the exact origin of the spelling "Iyla" is unclear, it is likely a creative twist on the traditional Ilana.
In the Hebrew Bible, the word "ilan" is used to describe various types of trees, often associated with strength, longevity, and wisdom. This connection to nature and resilience may have contributed to the popularity of names like Ilana and its variants.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ilana can be found in the Book of Judges, which mentions a woman named Ilana who was a prophetess during the time of the Judges, around the 12th century BCE. However, the exact spelling "Iyla" does not appear in ancient texts.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Ilana or its variants. In the early 20th century, Ilana Navon (1898-1986) was an Israeli author and playwright, known for her works that explored Jewish identity and the challenges faced by women in a patriarchal society.
Another famous bearer of the name was Ilana Rovner (1939-2023), an American lawyer and jurist who served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1992 to 2012.
In the realm of entertainment, Ilana Glazer (born 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and writer, best known for co-creating and starring in the Comedy Central series "Broad City."
Ilana Yahav (born 1955) is an Israeli sculptor and multimedia artist, celebrated for her thought-provoking installations that tackle themes of identity, memory, and the human condition.
Lastly, Ilana Mercer (born 1957) is a South African-born American political writer and philosopher, known for her controversial views on various topics, including race, immigration, and Western civilization.
While the name Iyla is a more recent variation, it carries the same essence and symbolism as its Hebrew counterpart, evoking a connection to nature, strength, and perseverance.
People
Iyla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iyla 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
Iyla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iyla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,445 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iyla 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 99,493 US residents.
Is Iyla a common name?
We classify Iyla as "Rare". It ranks above 95.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,473 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iyla most popular?
The single biggest year for Iyla was 2024, when 532 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iyla is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Iyla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,338 people with the name Iyla, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,094 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 Iyla 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 Iyla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iyla appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,341 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 Iyla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iyla is White at 60.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.0%) and Two or More Races (10.9%). 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 Iyla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Iyla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.3% (807 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 Iyla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Iyla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Iyla 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 Iyla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Iyla 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 Iyla 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 Iyla?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Iyla, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.