Anyia
A feminine name possibly of Arabic origin meaning "prayer" or "precious gift".
Name Census estimates that about 875 living Americans carry the first name Anyia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anyia today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anyia births was 2006 (76 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anyia. 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.
People living today
875
~ 1 in 391,719 Americans
Peak year
2006
76 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,609
Tracked since 1993
Census
Anyia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 763 people with the first name Anyia, which placed it at #15,166 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
#15,166
National first-name rank
People counted
763
763 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anyia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anyia is Black at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.0%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). 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 Anyia 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 Anyia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.8% · 601
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 61
- Two or more races7.6% · 58
- White4.8% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Anyia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anyia from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 572 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anyia 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 Anyia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anyias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Texas, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Anyia, while North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anyia
The name Anyia has its origins in the ancient Hellenic world, tracing back to the Classical Greek language. It is believed to have derived from the Greek word "anyssō," meaning "to accomplish" or "to achieve." This etymology suggests that the name may have been bestowed upon individuals with the intention of expressing a wish for their success and accomplishments in life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Anyia can be found in the writings of the renowned Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. In his work "The Histories," he mentions a woman named Anyia from the city of Miletus, though little is known about her life or significance.
During the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century AD, the name Anyia gained prominence among Greek Orthodox Christians. It was particularly popular in regions such as Anatolia and the Greek islands, where it was often given to girls as a symbol of their parents' aspirations for their future achievements.
In the 9th century AD, a notable figure named Anyia of Thessaloniki was revered as a Christian martyr. According to historical accounts, she faced persecution and ultimately met her demise for her unwavering faith during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Leo V the Armenian.
Another prominent individual bearing the name Anyia was the 14th-century Byzantine noblewoman and scholar Anyia Palaiologina. She was renowned for her erudition and played a significant role in the intellectual and cultural circles of the late Byzantine Empire.
During the Renaissance period, the name Anyia found its way into the Italian language as "Ania." One notable bearer of this variation was Ania Aldobrandeschi, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who lived in the 16th century. She is remembered for her support of renowned artists and intellectuals of the time, including the celebrated painter Raphael.
As the centuries progressed, the name Anyia continued to be used, though sporadically, in various parts of the Greek-speaking world. Notable figures include Anyia Stathopoulou, a renowned 19th-century Greek actress and theater director, and Anyia Kapardina, a celebrated Greek soprano who graced the operatic stages of Europe in the early 20th century.
People
Anyia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anyia 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
Anyia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anyia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 875 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anyia 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 391,719 US residents.
Is Anyia a common name?
We classify Anyia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 887 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anyia most popular?
The single biggest year for Anyia was 2006, when 76 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anyia 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 Anyia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 763 people with the name Anyia, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,166 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 Anyia 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 Anyia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anyia appears almost entirely female. Of the 771 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Anyia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anyia is Black at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.0%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). 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 Anyia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Anyia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.8% (601 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 Anyia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anyia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anyia 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 Anyia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anyia 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 Anyia 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 are named Anyia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.