Mahaila
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the first name Mahaila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mahaila today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mahaila births was 2003 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mahaila. 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.
People living today
128
~ 1 in 2,677,768 Americans
Peak year
2003
15 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,935
Tracked since 1995
Census
Mahaila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 121 people with the first name Mahaila, which placed it at #50,149 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
#50,149
National first-name rank
People counted
121
121 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mahaila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mahaila is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Black (19.0%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Mahaila 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 Mahaila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 67
- Black or African American19.0% · 23
- Two or more races10.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino9.9% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.1% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
Popularity
Mahaila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mahaila from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 76 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
Mahaila 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 Mahaila 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 Mahaila
The name Mahaila is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with roots dating back to ancient Middle Eastern cultures and civilizations. It is a feminine name that is thought to be a variation or derivative of the Arabic word "mahala," which means "beautiful" or "graceful."
In the early centuries of Islam, the name Mahaila was occasionally mentioned in historical records and religious texts, often referring to women of notable character or virtue. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the writings of the 9th-century Islamic scholar, Ibn Qutaybah, who documented the name in his work titled "Kitab al-Ma'arif" (The Book of Knowledge).
Throughout the centuries, several notable women have borne the name Mahaila. One of the earliest recorded figures was Mahaila bint al-Husayn (born in the 7th century), a revered Islamic scholar and poetess who was renowned for her knowledge and literary contributions.
In the 12th century, Mahaila al-Andalusiyah was a prominent female scholar and calligrapher from the Iberian Peninsula, known for her expertise in various fields, including Islamic jurisprudence and Arabic literature.
During the 15th century, Mahaila bint Muhammad al-Qurashi was a respected Islamic scholar and teacher who lived in the city of Cairo, Egypt. She was recognized for her profound knowledge of the Qur'an and Islamic sciences.
In the 19th century, Mahaila Bint Ismail al-Hashimi was a notable Arabian poet and author who gained recognition for her poetic works and contributions to Arabic literature.
Another noteworthy figure was Mahaila Lutfullah Khan (1872-1938), an Indian Muslim educator and social reformer who played a significant role in promoting women's education and empowerment in British India.
While the name Mahaila has its roots in Arabic and Islamic cultures, it has gained popularity and recognition across various regions and communities over time, with individuals from diverse backgrounds bearing this beautiful and graceful name.
People
Mahaila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mahaila as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mahaila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mahaila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 128 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mahaila 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 2,677,768 US residents.
Is Mahaila a common name?
We classify Mahaila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 130 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mahaila most popular?
The single biggest year for Mahaila was 2003, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mahaila is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mahaila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 121 people with the name Mahaila, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,149 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 Mahaila 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 Mahaila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mahaila appears almost entirely female. Of the 120 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Mahaila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mahaila is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Black (19.0%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Mahaila most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mahaila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (67 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 Mahaila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mahaila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mahaila 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 Mahaila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mahaila 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 Mahaila 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 Mahaila?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Mahaila on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.