Allysa
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly a variant of Alicia or Alice.
Name Census estimates that about 2,481 living Americans carry the first name Allysa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Allysa today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Allysa births was 1998 (150 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Allysa. 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 Allysa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 138,152 Americans
Peak year
1998
150 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2018 SSA rank
#11,476
Tracked since 1972
Census
Allysa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,557 people with the first name Allysa, which placed it at #6,313 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
#6,313
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,557 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Allysa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Allysa is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%). 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 Allysa 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 Allysa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.4% · 1,596
- Hispanic or Latino16.8% · 429
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 188
- Black or African American7.1% · 181
- Two or more races5.5% · 141
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 22
Popularity
Allysa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Allysa from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,179 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Allysa 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 Allysa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Allysas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Allysa, while Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 53 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Allysa
The name Allysa is believed to have its origins in Greek and English languages. It is thought to be a combination of the Greek name Alyssa, meaning "rational" or "truth," and the English suffix "-a," which is a common feminine ending.
The earliest known use of the name Allysa dates back to the early 20th century, with some records indicating its use in the United States and Canada. However, its popularity as a given name did not peak until the latter half of the 20th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Allysa is Allysa Nathalie, an American actress born in 1955. She appeared in several television shows and films in the 1970s and 1980s, including the soap opera "Guiding Light."
Another notable figure named Allysa is Allysa Faye, an American singer and songwriter born in 1978. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s with her hit single "Closer to Me," which charted in several countries.
In the literary world, Allysa Stulberg is a American author and journalist born in 1962. She has written several books on topics ranging from parenting to personal finance.
Allysa Yeoh, born in 1987, is a Malaysian badminton player who has represented her country at various international tournaments, including the Olympic Games.
Allysa Longmire, born in 1972, is a British sculptor and installation artist known for her large-scale public artworks made from recycled materials.
While the name Allysa is not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its components – the Greek name Alyssa and the English suffix "-a" – have long histories in their respective languages, contributing to the name's enduring appeal.
People
Allysa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Allysa 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
Allysa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Allysa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,481 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Allysa 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 138,152 US residents.
Is Allysa a common name?
We classify Allysa as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,554 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Allysa most popular?
The single biggest year for Allysa was 1998, when 150 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Allysa is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Allysa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,557 people with the name Allysa, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,313 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 Allysa 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 Allysa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Allysa appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,557 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 Allysa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Allysa is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%). 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 Allysa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Allysa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.4% (1,596 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 Allysa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Allysa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Allysa 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 Allysa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Allysa 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 Allysa 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 Allysa as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.