Leyana
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "soft, gentle, delicate".
Name Census estimates that about 392 living Americans carry the first name Leyana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leyana today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leyana births was 2024 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leyana. 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 Leyana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
392
~ 1 in 874,373 Americans
Peak year
2024
23 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,517
Tracked since 1997
Census
Leyana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 285 people with the first name Leyana, which placed it at #30,528 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
#30,528
National first-name rank
People counted
285
285 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
36.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leyana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leyana is Black at 36.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.0%) and White (21.1%). 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 Leyana 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 Leyana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American36.5% · 104
- Hispanic or Latino26.0% · 74
- White21.1% · 60
- Two or more races9.1% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.0% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Leyana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leyana from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 173 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leyana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leyana 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 Leyana 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 Leyana
The name Leyana is thought to have originated from the Arabic language, with its roots tracing back to the ancient Mesopotamian civilization in the Middle East region. The name is derived from the Arabic word "layn," which means "tender" or "soft," suggesting a gentle and compassionate nature.
In the early Islamic era, the name Leyana gained popularity among Arab communities, particularly in regions like the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, and parts of the Levant. Its association with the Arabic language and culture contributed to its widespread use within the Muslim world.
While there are no direct references to the name Leyana in major religious scriptures or ancient texts, some historical records suggest that it was in use as early as the 7th century CE. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Leyana bint Al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, a prominent woman from the Umayyad dynasty who lived in the late 7th century.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Leyana. One of the most renowned was Leyana al-Andalusiyya (1038-1109), a celebrated Andalusian poet and scholar from the Iberian Peninsula during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization. Her literary works and contributions to the arts and sciences have left a lasting impact on Arabic culture.
Another prominent figure was Leyana Bint Al-Hasan (1182-1249), a highly respected Islamic scholar and jurist from Baghdad. She was renowned for her expertise in Sharia law and her teachings, which influenced generations of scholars and legal practitioners.
In the 14th century, Leyana al-Qurashiyya (1310-1390) was a prominent Sufi mystic and poet from Damascus. Her spiritual writings and poetry have been widely studied and appreciated within the Sufi tradition.
More recently, Leyana Drah (1923-2003) was a renowned Moroccan writer and feminist activist who played a significant role in advocating for women's rights and education in her country.
Leyana has also been the name of several influential figures in the arts, literature, and academia throughout the years, though their historical records and dates may not be as well-documented as the examples mentioned above.
People
Leyana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leyana 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
Leyana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leyana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 392 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leyana 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 874,373 US residents.
Is Leyana a common name?
We classify Leyana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 396 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leyana most popular?
The single biggest year for Leyana was 2024, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leyana is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leyana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 285 people with the name Leyana, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,528 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 Leyana 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 Leyana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leyana leans strongly female. 287 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Leyana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leyana is Black at 36.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.0%) and White (21.1%). 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 Leyana most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Leyana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.5% (104 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 Leyana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leyana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leyana 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 Leyana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leyana 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 Leyana 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 Leyana?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.