Bayla
A feminine diminutive of the Hebrew name Batya, meaning "daughter of God".
Name Census estimates that about 993 living Americans carry the first name Bayla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bayla today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bayla births was 2014 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bayla. 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 Bayla with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
993
~ 1 in 345,171 Americans
Peak year
2014
58 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,642
Tracked since 1940
Census
Bayla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 878 people with the first name Bayla, which placed it at #13,660 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
#13,660
National first-name rank
People counted
878
878 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bayla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bayla is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.7%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Bayla 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 Bayla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 712
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 68
- Black or African American4.4% · 39
- Two or more races4.0% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 5
Popularity
Bayla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bayla from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 484 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bayla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bayla 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 Bayla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Baylas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Bayla, while Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bayla
The name Bayla is a feminine given name of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical name Baylah. It is believed to have originated in ancient Israel around the 5th century BCE. The name Baylah is mentioned in the Book of Chronicles as one of the wives of Shaharaim, a descendant of the Tribe of Benjamin.
Bayla is a variant of the Hebrew name Baylah, which means "modest" or "bashful." The name's root, "bah-yah," is related to the Hebrew word "bosh," meaning "to be ashamed" or "to feel shy." This suggests that the name Bayla was originally bestowed upon individuals who exhibited qualities of humility and modesty.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bayla can be found in the historical records of the Jewish community in the Middle Ages. Bayla bat Shlomo, a renowned scholar and poet, lived in Spain during the 13th century and was celebrated for her contributions to Jewish literature and culture.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bayla. In the 16th century, Bayla Nuno was a Jewish woman who lived in Portugal and is remembered for her courage and resilience in the face of persecution during the Portuguese Inquisition.
In the 19th century, Bayla Rivkah Chyene (1825-1899) was a respected Hasidic leader and spiritual teacher in Ukraine. She was known for her wisdom and her dedication to the study of Jewish mysticism.
Bayla Goldstein (1901-1984) was a pioneering woman in the field of education. Born in Belarus, she immigrated to the United States and became a prominent advocate for progressive education and the rights of children.
Bayla Kern (1925-2017) was a Polish-born Holocaust survivor who later became an author and public speaker, sharing her experiences and promoting tolerance and human rights.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Bayla throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural heritage associated with this ancient Hebrew name.
People
Bayla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bayla as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bayla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bayla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 993 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bayla 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 345,171 US residents.
Is Bayla a common name?
We classify Bayla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,014 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bayla most popular?
The single biggest year for Bayla was 2014, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bayla is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bayla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 878 people with the name Bayla, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,660 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 Bayla 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 Bayla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bayla leans strongly female. 870 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 9 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Bayla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bayla is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.7%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Bayla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bayla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (712 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 Bayla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bayla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bayla 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 Bayla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bayla 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 Bayla 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 common is the name Bayla?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Bayla at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.