Ilyanna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a blend of Ilya and Anna.
Name Census estimates that about 454 living Americans carry the first name Ilyanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ilyanna today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ilyanna births was 2012 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ilyanna. 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
454
~ 1 in 754,966 Americans
Peak year
2012
29 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,802
Tracked since 1995
Census
Ilyanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 262 people with the first name Ilyanna, which placed it at #32,242 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
#32,242
National first-name rank
People counted
262
262 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ilyanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilyanna is Hispanic at 67.2%. The next largest groups are White (17.6%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Ilyanna 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 Ilyanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino67.2% · 176
- White17.6% · 46
- Two or more races6.5% · 17
- Black or African American5.7% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 3
Popularity
Ilyanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ilyanna from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 226 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ilyanna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ilyanna 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 Ilyanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ilyannas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ilyanna
The given name Ilyanna has its linguistic roots in the ancient Hellenic cultures of the Mediterranean region, particularly in the Greek language. It is believed to be a feminine variant of the male name Ilyan, which itself is derived from the Greek word "ilios" meaning "sun." This connection to the celestial body suggests that the name may have held symbolic significance related to light, warmth, and vitality in its earliest usage.
The name's origins can be traced back to the classical era of ancient Greece, with records indicating its presence among the communities of the Greek mainland and various Aegean islands. While its precise genesis is unclear, some scholars hypothesize that Ilyanna may have arisen as a combination of the root "ily-" from "ilios" and the feminine suffix "-anna," which was commonly used in Greek naming conventions.
Historical references to individuals bearing the name Ilyanna are scarce in ancient texts, but there are a few notable mentions. One of the earliest recorded instances comes from a fragmented inscription found on the island of Delos, dating back to the 3rd century BCE, which appears to reference an Ilyanna as a priestess in the local temple cult. This suggests that the name may have held religious or spiritual connotations during that period.
In the subsequent centuries, the name seems to have spread across the broader Hellenistic world, with sporadic appearances in various regions influenced by Greek culture. One notable figure was Ilyanna of Smyrna, a renowned poet and philosopher who lived in the 2nd century CE and was celebrated for her eloquent works on love and nature.
Fast-forwarding to the Byzantine era, the name experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly among the aristocratic circles of Constantinople. Ilyanna Doukas, born in 1045, was a prominent noblewoman and influential figure at the imperial court, known for her patronage of the arts and her involvement in political affairs.
As the centuries progressed, the name continued to be used across various parts of the Greek-speaking world, including within the Greek diaspora communities that emerged in different regions. One notable example is Ilyanna Komnenos, a 16th-century scholar and educator from the Greek community in Venice, who was renowned for her expertise in classical literature and her efforts to promote education among women.
Throughout its long history, the name Ilyanna has been borne by several other notable individuals, including Ilyanna Mavrokordatos, a 17th-century poet and playwright from Crete; Ilyanna Kalogeropoulos, a 19th-century Greek revolutionary and fighter for independence; and Ilyanna Stassinopoulou, a 20th-century painter and sculptor from Athens, known for her avant-garde works that reflected the vibrancy and energy of the sun – a fitting connection to the name's ancient roots.
People
Ilyanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ilyanna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ilyanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ilyanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 454 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ilyanna 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 754,966 US residents.
Is Ilyanna a common name?
We classify Ilyanna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 458 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ilyanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Ilyanna was 2012, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ilyanna is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ilyanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 262 people with the name Ilyanna, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,242 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 Ilyanna 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 Ilyanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ilyanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 269 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 Ilyanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilyanna is Hispanic at 67.2%. The next largest groups are White (17.6%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Ilyanna most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ilyanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (176 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 Ilyanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ilyanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ilyanna 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 Ilyanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ilyanna 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 Ilyanna 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 Ilyanna?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.