Alijah
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "exalted" or "supreme".
Name Census estimates that about 14,860 living Americans carry the first name Alijah. It sits at #430 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (90.4% of registrations). The average person named Alijah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alijah births was 2021 (792 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alijah. 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 Alijah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Alijah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 23,066 Americans
Peak year
2021
792 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#430
Tracked since 1987
Census
Alijah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,737 people with the first name Alijah, which placed it at #2,688 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
#2,688
National first-name rank
People counted
8.7K
8,737 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alijah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alijah is Black at 43.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.0%) and White (15.5%). 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 Alijah 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 Alijah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.2% · 3,775
- Hispanic or Latino25.0% · 2,186
- White15.5% · 1,354
- Two or more races13.4% · 1,168
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 153
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 101
Gender
Gender distribution for Alijah
Alijah leans heavily male at 90.4% of total registrations, but 1,435 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Alijah as a male name
- Ranked #430 in 2024
- 734 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (762 births)
Alijah as a female name
- Ranked #5,606 in 2024
- 22 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2001 (85 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alijah leans strongly male. 7,746 people counted with this name were male (88.7%), compared with 991 female bearers (11.3%).
Popularity
Alijah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alijah 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 6,312 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Alijah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alijah 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 Alijah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alijahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Alijah, while Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 302 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alijah
The name Alijah is a relatively modern variation of the Hebrew name Elijah, which means "my God is Yahweh" or "Yahweh is God." The name's roots can be traced back to ancient Hebrew texts, particularly the Old Testament of the Bible.
In the Old Testament, Elijah was a prominent prophet who played a crucial role in the confrontation between the worship of Yahweh and the pagan deity Baal. The biblical account depicts Elijah as a powerful and charismatic figure who performed miracles and stood against the corruption of the Israelite monarchy.
The earliest recorded use of the name Elijah dates back to the 9th century BCE, when the prophet lived during the reign of King Ahab in the northern kingdom of Israel. However, the name Alijah, with its slightly modified spelling, emerged much later as a modern variant.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Alijah was Alijah David Cramner, an English clergyman and theologian born in 1595. He was known for his work on biblical exegesis and served as a rector in various parishes.
Another notable figure with the name Alijah was Alijah Lindsey, a prominent African American educator and civil rights activist born in 1848. He dedicated his life to establishing schools for Black children in the post-Civil War South and played a significant role in advancing educational opportunities for marginalized communities.
In the 20th century, Alijah Muhammad, born Elijah Poole in 1897, was a prominent leader of the Nation of Islam. He was instrumental in reviving and expanding the organization, promoting self-determination and economic empowerment for African Americans.
Alijah Diggs, born in 1970, is a renowned American actor and musician. He has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and "Empire," and has also released several music albums.
Alijah Holder, born in 1992, is a Jamaican professional cricketer who has represented the West Indies national cricket team in various formats of the game. He is known for his aggressive batting style and has gained recognition as a promising young talent in the sport.
Overall, the name Alijah, while a relatively modern variation, carries a rich historical and cultural significance rooted in the ancient Hebrew tradition. Its connection to the biblical prophet Elijah and its use by notable individuals throughout history have contributed to its enduring appeal and relevance across different cultures and time periods.
People
Alijah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alijah 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
Alijah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alijah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,860 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alijah 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 23,066 US residents.
Is Alijah a common name?
We classify Alijah as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,002 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alijah most popular?
The single biggest year for Alijah was 2021, when 792 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alijah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alijah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,737 people with the name Alijah, or 2.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,688 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 Alijah 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 Alijah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alijah leans strongly male. 7,746 people counted with this name were male (88.7%), compared with 991 female bearers (11.3%). 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 Alijah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alijah is Black at 43.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.0%) and White (15.5%). 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 Alijah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Alijah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.2% (3,775 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 Alijah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alijah a male name?
Yes, 90.4% of people registered as Alijah in the SSA data are male. 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 Alijah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alijah 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 Alijah 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 Alijah as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Alijah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.