Aliya
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "exalted" or "sublime".
Name Census estimates that about 10,569 living Americans carry the first name Aliya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aliya today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aliya births was 2012 (483 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aliya. 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 Aliya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Aliya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 32,430 Americans
Peak year
2012
483 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#851
Tracked since 1971
Census
Aliya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,245 people with the first name Aliya, which placed it at #2,598 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
#2,598
National first-name rank
People counted
9.2K
9,245 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
32.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aliya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aliya is White at 32.1%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Hispanic (17.0%). 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 Aliya 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 Aliya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White32.1% · 2,969
- Black or African American22.1% · 2,043
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 1,570
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.9% · 1,565
- Two or more races11.2% · 1,033
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 65
Popularity
Aliya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aliya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,764 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Aliya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aliya 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 Aliya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aliyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Aliya, while District of Columbia, Alaska, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 215 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aliya
The name Aliya has its origins in Arabic and Persian cultures. It is derived from the Arabic word "Aliya," which means "exalted" or "superior." The name has been in use for centuries and has been popular among Muslim communities across the Middle East and Central Asia.
In Islamic literature, the name Aliya is sometimes associated with the concept of spiritual elevation or ascension. It is believed to have been used as a name for women who were considered pious and virtuous. The name appears in some historical records and texts from the medieval period, although its exact origins and earliest documented use are difficult to pinpoint.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Aliya was Aliya Khanum, who lived in the 16th century and was the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her contributions to the cultural life of the Mughal court.
Another notable figure with the name Aliya was Aliya Ismet Inonu, who was born in 1876 and was the wife of Ismet Inonu, the second President of Turkey. She played an influential role in the Turkish War of Independence and was a prominent advocate for women's rights and education.
In the 20th century, the name Aliya gained popularity in various parts of the world. One famous bearer of the name was Aliya Mustafina, a Russian gymnast who was born in 1994 and won multiple Olympic and World Championship medals.
Another well-known Aliya was Aliya Khalida, a Pakistani singer and actress who was born in 1932 and gained fame for her contributions to the Pakistani film industry.
Aliya Mariam Hamdani, born in 1951, was a Bangladeshi academic and activist who fought for women's rights and social justice. She played a crucial role in the Language Movement of Bangladesh and was awarded the prestigious Ekushey Padak, one of the highest civilian honors in the country.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Aliya. The name has endured for centuries and continues to be popular in various cultures and societies around the world.
People
Aliya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aliya 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
Aliya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aliya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,569 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aliya 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 32,430 US residents.
Is Aliya a common name?
We classify Aliya as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,743 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aliya most popular?
The single biggest year for Aliya was 2012, when 483 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aliya is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aliya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,245 people with the name Aliya, or 3.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,598 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 Aliya 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 Aliya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aliya appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,253 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Aliya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aliya is White at 32.1%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Hispanic (17.0%). 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 Aliya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aliya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 32.1% (2,969 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 Aliya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aliya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aliya 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 Aliya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aliya 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 Aliya 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 Aliya as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.