Aaliya
Of Arabic origin, signifying lofty, exalted or elevated.
Name Census estimates that about 1,508 living Americans carry the first name Aaliya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aaliya today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aaliya births was 2010 (85 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aaliya. 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 Aaliya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Aaliya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 227,291 Americans
Peak year
2010
85 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,110
Tracked since 1988
Census
Aaliya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,289 people with the first name Aaliya, which placed it at #10,381 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
#10,381
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,289 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
29.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aaliya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aaliya is Black at 29.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.4%) and Hispanic (21.7%). 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 Aaliya 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 Aaliya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American29.0% · 374
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.4% · 366
- Hispanic or Latino21.7% · 280
- White11.8% · 152
- Two or more races8.2% · 106
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 11
Popularity
Aaliya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aaliya from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 668 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aaliya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aaliya 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 Aaliya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aaliyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Aaliya, while Washington, Minnesota, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aaliya
The name Aaliya has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a feminine name derived from the Arabic word 'Ali', which means 'lofty' or 'sublime'. The name Aaliya is a variation of the name Aliya and is believed to have originated in the Middle East, particularly in regions with a strong Islamic influence.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Aaliya can be found in Islamic literature and texts. It is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as a name associated with piety and righteousness. The name gained popularity among Muslim communities and spread across the Middle East and other regions with significant Islamic influence.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Aaliya. One of the earliest recorded examples is Aaliya bint Ahmad al-Rudbariyya, a renowned female scholar and poet who lived in the 10th century CE in present-day Iran. She was highly respected for her knowledge and contributions to the fields of literature and Islamic studies.
Another notable figure was Aaliya Ismat Begum (1892-1950), an Indian Muslim writer and feminist activist. She played a significant role in advocating for women's rights and education in pre-independence India and was a prominent figure in the Muslim women's movement of the time.
In the realm of literature, Aaliya Saleh (1936-1994) was a prominent Sudanese novelist and short story writer. Her works explored themes of cultural identity, gender roles, and the challenges faced by women in Sudanese society. She is considered a pioneering figure in modern Sudanese literature.
Aaliya Al-Lami (1962-2019) was an Iraqi-American artist and activist known for her powerful mixed-media works that addressed issues of war, displacement, and human rights. Her art gained international recognition and was exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
In the field of sports, Aaliya Ghumman (born 1996) is a Pakistani cricketer who has represented the national women's cricket team. She is known for her outstanding batting performances and has been a valuable player for the team in various international tournaments.
While the name Aaliya has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has gained popularity across various regions and communities worldwide. The name's connection to concepts of elevated status, piety, and righteousness has contributed to its enduring appeal and significance throughout history.
People
Aaliya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aaliya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aaliya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aaliya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,508 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aaliya 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 227,291 US residents.
Is Aaliya a common name?
We classify Aaliya as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,525 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aaliya most popular?
The single biggest year for Aaliya was 2010, when 85 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aaliya is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aaliya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,289 people with the name Aaliya, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,381 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 Aaliya 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 Aaliya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aaliya appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,289 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Aaliya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aaliya is Black at 29.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.4%) and Hispanic (21.7%). 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 Aaliya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Aaliya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 29.0% (374 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 Aaliya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aaliya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aaliya 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 Aaliya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aaliya 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 Aaliya 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 Aaliya as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Aaliya, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.