Alisha
An feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "noble, sublime".
Name Census estimates that about 53,968 living Americans carry the first name Alisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alisha today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alisha births was 1989 (2,457 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alisha. 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 Alisha with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Alisha is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 131 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1980s, recent registration numbers for Alisha have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
54K
~ 1 in 6,351 Americans
Peak year
1989
2,457 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2004 SSA rank
#1,137
Tracked since 1948
Census
Alisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 49,572 people with the first name Alisha, which placed it at #907 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
#907
National first-name rank
People counted
50K
49,572 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
16.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alisha is White at 56.7%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Hispanic (8.7%). 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 Alisha 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 Alisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.7% · 28,114
- Black or African American20.3% · 10,065
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 4,325
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.8% · 3,853
- Two or more races5.4% · 2,665
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 550
Gender
Gender distribution for Alisha
Out of the 56,942 babies given the name Alisha since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Alisha as a male name
- Ranked #11,417 in 2004
- 5 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1989 (20 births)
Alisha as a female name
- Ranked #1,137 in 2024
- 212 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (2,437 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 49,566 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Alisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alisha from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 21,827 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alisha 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 Alisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Alisha, while Vermont, Delaware, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,073 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alisha
The name Alisha has its origins in the Arabic and Persian languages, with its roots dating back to the 7th century. It is derived from the Arabic word "aliyah," which means "exalted" or "sublime." The name was commonly used in the Middle East and spread to other regions through cultural exchanges and migration.
In Islamic tradition, the name Alisha holds a significant meaning. It is believed to be derived from the name "Aliya," which was the name of one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad. This association with a prominent figure in Islamic history has contributed to the name's popularity among Muslim communities.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Alisha can be traced back to the medieval period. It appears in various historical records and literary works from the Middle East and Central Asia. One notable example is the 11th-century Persian poet and scholar, Alisha Marvazi, who was renowned for her contributions to literature and philosophy.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Alisha. One of the most famous was Alisha Durrani (1753-1823), an Afghan ruler and the founder of the Durrani Empire, which encompassed parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Another prominent figure was Alisha Izetbegovic (1925-2003), the first President of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country's independence.
In the realm of literature, Alisha Navai (1858-1924) was a renowned Persian poet and writer, whose works explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary. Meanwhile, in the field of science, Alisha Begum Fyzee-Rahamin (1905-1983) was an Indian physicist and educator, known for her groundbreaking research in nuclear physics.
Alisha has also been a popular name among artists and performers. One example is Alisha Chinai (born 1965), an Indian singer and actress who gained international recognition for her contributions to the Bollywood film industry. Another notable figure is Alisha Wainwright (born 1989), an American actress best known for her roles in films and television series like "Raising Dion" and "Palmer."
While the name Alisha has transcended cultural and geographic boundaries, its roots can be traced back to the rich heritage of the Arabic and Persian languages, where it has held a significant meaning and historical significance for centuries.
People
Alisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alisha 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
Alisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 53,968 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alisha 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 6,351 US residents.
Is Alisha a common name?
We classify Alisha as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 56,942 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Alisha was 1989, when 2,457 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alisha is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 49,572 people with the name Alisha, or 16.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #907 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 Alisha 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 Alisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 49,566 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Alisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alisha is White at 56.7%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Hispanic (8.7%). 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 Alisha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.7% (28,114 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 Alisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alisha a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Alisha 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 Alisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alisha 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 Alisha 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 share the name Alisha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.