Laisha
A feminine Arabic name meaning "woman with dark beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 2,388 living Americans carry the first name Laisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Laisha today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laisha births was 2004 (323 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laisha. 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 Laisha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 143,532 Americans
Peak year
2004
323 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,873
Tracked since 1977
Census
Laisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,923 people with the first name Laisha, which placed it at #7,776 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
#7,776
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,923 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
85.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laisha is Hispanic at 85.8%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and White (4.1%). 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 Laisha 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 Laisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino85.8% · 1,650
- Black or African American7.6% · 146
- White4.1% · 78
- Two or more races1.1% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
Popularity
Laisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laisha 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 1,783 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
Laisha 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 Laisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Laishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Laisha, while Wisconsin, Washington, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 82 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Laisha
The name Laisha is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the Arabic word "laysa," which means "there is not" or "it is not." The name is thought to have originated in the Middle East, particularly in regions where Arabic is spoken.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Laisha dates back to the 7th century. It is mentioned in some Islamic texts and historical records from that time period. However, its exact origin and meaning within the context of these texts are not entirely clear.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Laisha. One of the earliest recorded was Laisha bint Al-Qasim (born around 650 CE), a renowned scholar and poet from the Umayyad Caliphate. Her works were highly regarded during her lifetime and contributed to the development of Arabic literature.
Another prominent figure with the name Laisha was Laisha al-Andalusiyya (born around 1035 CE), a celebrated poet and scholar from the Iberian Peninsula. She gained recognition for her literary works and her contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the region during the era of Muslim rule in Spain.
In the 11th century, Laisha bint Abi Bakr (born around 1020 CE) was a notable figure in the Islamic world. She was a scholar and teacher who is credited with establishing one of the earliest known educational institutions for women in the region.
Moving to more recent times, Laisha Rosnani (born in 1933) was a renowned Malaysian writer and poet. She was known for her works that explored themes of love, nature, and the human experience. Her contributions to the literary landscape of Malaysia were widely recognized and celebrated.
Lastly, Laisha Siraj (born in 1948) is a contemporary figure from Bangladesh. She is a prominent academic and author who has written extensively on topics related to women's rights, education, and social issues in her country.
While the name Laisha has roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has been adopted and used across various regions and communities throughout history. These examples showcase the diverse backgrounds and achievements of individuals who have borne this name over the centuries.
People
Laisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laisha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Laisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,388 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laisha 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 143,532 US residents.
Is Laisha a common name?
We classify Laisha as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,431 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Laisha was 2004, when 323 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laisha is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Laisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,923 people with the name Laisha, or 0.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,776 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 Laisha 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 Laisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,924 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 Laisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laisha is Hispanic at 85.8%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and White (4.1%). 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 Laisha most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Laisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.8% (1,650 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 Laisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laisha 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 Laisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laisha 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 Laisha 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 the name Laisha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.