Laysa
A beautiful feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "not" or "no".
Name Census estimates that about 86 living Americans carry the first name Laysa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Laysa today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laysa births was 2003 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laysa. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Laysa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
86
~ 1 in 3,985,516 Americans
Peak year
2003
12 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2012 SSA rank
#18,393
Tracked since 1985
Census
Laysa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 211 people with the first name Laysa, which placed it at #37,164 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
#37,164
National first-name rank
People counted
211
211 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
65.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laysa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laysa is Hispanic at 65.4%. The next largest groups are White (24.6%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Laysa 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 Laysa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino65.4% · 138
- White24.6% · 52
- Black or African American3.8% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 8
- Two or more races1.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Laysa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laysa from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 63 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
Laysa 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 Laysa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Laysa
The name Laysa originates from the Arabic language, with its roots traced back to the 7th century CE during the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. The name is derived from the Arabic word "laysa," which means "not" or "no." It is believed to have been used as a symbolic name, representing rejection or negation of specific beliefs or practices.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Laysa can be found in the famous Arabic literary work, "The Book of Songs" by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, written in the 10th century CE. The book mentions a female singer named Laysa, who was renowned for her exceptional vocal talents and performances at the court of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.
During the medieval period, the name Laysa was occasionally used by Muslim families, particularly in regions where Arabic was the predominant language, such as the Middle East and North Africa. However, its usage remained relatively rare compared to more common Arabic names.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Laysa was Laysa al-Andalusiyya, a renowned Andalusian poet and scholar who lived in the 11th century CE. She was celebrated for her mastery of Arabic poetry and her contributions to the literary and intellectual circles of the time.
Another influential figure was Laysa bint al-Haytham, a 10th-century female mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad. She is credited with making significant contributions to the development of mathematics and astronomy, particularly in the field of optics and the study of light.
In the 13th century, there was a famous female Sufi mystic named Laysa al-Qunawiyya, who was known for her spiritual teachings and her involvement in the Mevlevi order, a prominent Sufi brotherhood founded by the renowned poet Rumi.
The name Laysa also appeared in historical records from the Ottoman Empire, where it was occasionally used by Turkish families who were influenced by Arabic culture and traditions. One notable figure was Laysa Khanum, a 16th-century Ottoman princess and daughter of Sultan Selim II.
While the name Laysa has its roots in Arabic and Islamic culture, it has been adopted by various ethnic and cultural groups over the centuries, transcending geographic boundaries and linguistic barriers. However, its usage has remained relatively uncommon compared to other names in the Arabic and Muslim world.
People
Laysa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laysa 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
Laysa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laysa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 86 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laysa 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 3,985,516 US residents.
Is Laysa a common name?
We classify Laysa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 88 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laysa most popular?
The single biggest year for Laysa was 2003, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laysa is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Laysa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 211 people with the name Laysa, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,164 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 Laysa 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 Laysa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laysa appears almost entirely female. Of the 212 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 Laysa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laysa is Hispanic at 65.4%. The next largest groups are White (24.6%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Laysa most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Laysa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.4% (138 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 Laysa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laysa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laysa 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 Laysa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laysa 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 Laysa 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 Americans are named Laysa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.