Iysha
An Arabic feminine name meaning "life" or "living".
Name Census estimates that about 88 living Americans carry the first name Iysha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Iysha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iysha births was 1991 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iysha. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Iysha. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
88
~ 1 in 3,894,936 Americans
Peak year
1991
13 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2008 SSA rank
#18,618
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Iysha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iysha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 59 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iysha 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 Iysha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Iysha
The name Iysha is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, and its roots can be traced back to the Middle Eastern region during the medieval period. This name is derived from the Arabic word "ʿayshah," which means "life" or "livelihood."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Iysha can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. In the Quran, Aisha was the name of one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived in the 7th century CE. She was known for her intelligence, wisdom, and her significant contributions to the preservation and transmission of the teachings of Islam.
Throughout history, the name Iysha has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest examples is Iysha al-Bagdadiyya, a renowned female scholar and poet from Baghdad, who lived during the 9th century CE. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Arabic literature and her poetic works.
Another influential figure with the name Iysha was Iysha al-Taymuriyya, a prominent Sufi mystic and spiritual leader from the 13th century CE. She was renowned for her teachings on Sufism and her profound spiritual insights, which attracted numerous followers during her lifetime.
In the realm of Islamic scholarship, Iysha bint Al-Shati (1913-1998) was a prominent Egyptian scholar and writer. She was known for her extensive knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the study of the Quran and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad).
Iysha Sesay (born 1976) is a Sierra Leonean-British journalist and author. She has worked for various international news organizations, including CNN and Al Jazeera English, and has reported from conflict zones around the world. Sesay is also known for her advocacy work on issues related to women's rights and education.
The name Iysha has transcended cultural and geographical boundaries, and it continues to be used in various parts of the world, particularly in regions with significant Muslim populations or communities with Arabic cultural influences.
People
Iysha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iysha 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
Iysha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iysha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 88 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iysha 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 3,894,936 US residents.
Is Iysha a common name?
We classify Iysha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iysha most popular?
The single biggest year for Iysha was 1991, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iysha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Iysha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Iysha 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.
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.