Aleana
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly Greek, with meanings proposed as "bright" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 943 living Americans carry the first name Aleana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aleana today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aleana births was 2003 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aleana. 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 Aleana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
943
~ 1 in 363,472 Americans
Peak year
2003
38 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,876
Tracked since 1973
Census
Aleana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 747 people with the first name Aleana, which placed it at #15,407 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
#15,407
National first-name rank
People counted
747
747 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aleana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleana is White at 39.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (34.4%) and Black (13.1%). 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 Aleana 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 Aleana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.9% · 298
- Hispanic or Latino34.4% · 257
- Black or African American13.1% · 98
- Two or more races8.2% · 61
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
Popularity
Aleana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aleana from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 327 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aleana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aleana 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 Aleana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aleanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Aleana, while New York, Arizona, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aleana
The name Aleana has its roots in the Greek language, originating from the word "aleos," which means "warm" or "shining." This name is believed to have first emerged during the Hellenistic period, which spanned from the 4th to the 1st century BCE.
In ancient Greece, the name Aleana was often associated with the goddess of the sun, Helios, and was given to children as a symbol of warmth, radiance, and vitality. It was a popular name among the aristocratic families of ancient Athens and Sparta.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aleana can be found in the writings of the Greek historian Plutarch, who lived in the 1st century CE. He mentioned a woman named Aleana, who was a prominent figure in the city of Corinth during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Aleana. One of the most famous was Aleana of Antioch, a Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century CE. She was renowned for her unwavering faith and dedication to her beliefs, and her story is recorded in the writings of early Christian scholars.
Another notable Aleana was Aleana the Younger, a Byzantine princess who lived in the 9th century CE. She was known for her intellect and her support of the arts and sciences, and she played a significant role in the cultural renaissance of the Byzantine Empire during her reign.
In the 12th century, there was Aleana of Arles, a French noblewoman and patron of the arts. She commissioned many beautiful works of art and architecture, and her name is associated with several notable buildings and artworks from that period.
During the Renaissance, Aleana Piccolomini was a prominent Italian humanist and scholar. Born in 1463, she was renowned for her knowledge of classical literature and her contributions to the study of philosophy and rhetoric.
In more recent times, Aleana Ferante was an Italian novelist and academic who lived from 1929 to 2016. Her works explored themes of identity, gender, and the complexities of human relationships, and she is considered one of the most influential Italian writers of the 20th century.
People
Aleana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aleana 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
Aleana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aleana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 943 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aleana 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 363,472 US residents.
Is Aleana a common name?
We classify Aleana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 961 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aleana most popular?
The single biggest year for Aleana was 2003, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aleana 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 Aleana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 747 people with the name Aleana, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,407 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 Aleana 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 Aleana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aleana appears almost entirely female. Of the 751 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 Aleana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleana is White at 39.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (34.4%) and Black (13.1%). 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 Aleana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aleana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.9% (298 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 Aleana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aleana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aleana 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 Aleana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aleana 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 Aleana 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 the name Aleana?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.