Laisa
A feminine Arabic name meaning "not" or "no".
Name Census estimates that about 226 living Americans carry the first name Laisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Laisa today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laisa births was 2000 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laisa. 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 Laisa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
226
~ 1 in 1,516,612 Americans
Peak year
2000
36 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,855
Tracked since 1981
Census
Laisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 414 people with the first name Laisa, which placed it at #23,579 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
#23,579
National first-name rank
People counted
414
414 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
64.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laisa is Hispanic at 64.0%. The next largest groups are White (18.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.9%). 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 Laisa 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 Laisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino64.0% · 265
- White18.6% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.9% · 41
- Black or African American6.8% · 28
- Two or more races0.7% · 3
Popularity
Laisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laisa from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 133 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Laisa 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 Laisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Laisas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Laisa
The name Laisa finds its origins in the Arabic language, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Arabic word "laysa," which means "not" or "no." This root word stems from the Semitic languages, including Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew.
In Arabic culture, the name Laisa was often associated with the concept of denial or negation, reflecting its linguistic roots. However, it was also interpreted as a symbol of strength and resilience, suggesting the ability to overcome challenges or reject negative influences.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Laisa can be found in the works of the renowned 9th-century Arab poet, Abu Tammam. In his anthology of poetry, he mentions a woman named Laisa, praising her beauty and elegance.
Throughout the centuries, several notable figures have borne the name Laisa. In the 11th century, Laisa bint al-Muqtadir was a prominent princess and scholar from the Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her love for poetry.
During the 13th century, Laisa al-Andalusiyya was a celebrated poet and writer from Andalusia, Spain. Her works were widely acclaimed for their lyrical quality and profound insights into the human condition.
In the 16th century, Laisa al-Maqdisiyya was a respected Islamic scholar and theologian from Jerusalem. She was known for her expertise in Quranic exegesis and her contributions to religious discourse.
Another notable figure was Laisa al-Baghdadiyya, a 17th-century Ottoman calligrapher and artist from Baghdad. Her intricate calligraphic works were highly sought after and adorned the walls of mosques and palaces throughout the Ottoman Empire.
While the name Laisa has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and found its way into various regions and communities over the centuries. Each bearer of this name has contributed to its rich tapestry of meanings and associations, reflecting the diversity and complexity of human experience.
People
Laisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laisa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Laisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 226 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laisa 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 1,516,612 US residents.
Is Laisa a common name?
We classify Laisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 232 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Laisa was 2000, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laisa is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Laisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 414 people with the name Laisa, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,579 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 Laisa 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 Laisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 423 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Laisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laisa is Hispanic at 64.0%. The next largest groups are White (18.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.9%). 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 Laisa most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Laisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.0% (265 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 Laisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laisa 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 Laisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laisa 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 Laisa 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 are named Laisa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.