Leiyah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "the same as Leah" or "weary".
Name Census estimates that about 271 living Americans carry the first name Leiyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leiyah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leiyah births was 2011 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leiyah. 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 Leiyah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
271
~ 1 in 1,264,776 Americans
Peak year
2011
29 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,878
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Leiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leiyah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 158 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leiyah 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 Leiyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leiyahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leiyah
The name Leiyah is believed to have its origins in Arabic culture, deriving from the word "layla" which means "night" or "dark beauty." The name is thought to have emerged during the medieval Islamic Golden Age, a period of significant cultural, economic, and scientific advancement in the Islamic world.
In Arabic literature, the name Leiyah gained prominence through the famous love story of Layla and Majnun, a tragic tale of unrequited love that has been retold and celebrated across various cultures for centuries. This literary work, written by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi in the 12th century, is considered a masterpiece of Persian literature and has contributed to the enduring popularity of the name.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Leiyah can be found in the writings of the renowned Muslim philosopher and polymath, Avicenna (980-1037 CE). He is believed to have had a daughter named Leiyah, though historical records of her life are scarce.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Leiyah. One of the most prominent was Leiyah al-Amiriya (1265-1309 CE), a revered Arab poet and scholar from Damascus, Syria. Her poetic works, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary, were widely acclaimed during her lifetime and have been preserved and studied by scholars over the centuries.
Another notable figure was Leiyah al-Andalusiyya (1162-1242 CE), a renowned Andalusian poet and calligrapher from the Iberian Peninsula. Her intricate calligraphic works and poetic compositions were highly praised, and she is considered one of the most influential female artists of the Islamic Golden Age in Spain.
In more recent times, Leiyah Boudiaf (1914-1992) was an Algerian revolutionary and feminist activist who played a significant role in the Algerian War of Independence against French colonial rule. She was a prominent figure in the National Liberation Front (FLN) and worked tirelessly to promote women's rights and education in post-independence Algeria.
Leiyah Khaled (born 1944) is a Palestinian revolutionary and activist who gained international recognition for her involvement in the Palestinian resistance movement against Israeli occupation. She was the first woman to join the armed struggle and participated in several high-profile hijackings and operations, becoming a symbol of the Palestinian cause.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Leiyah, highlighting its rich cultural heritage and the diverse contributions of those who have carried this name across various fields and regions.
People
Leiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leiyah 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
Leiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leiyah 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 1,264,776 US residents.
Is Leiyah a common name?
We classify Leiyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 273 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Leiyah was 2011, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leiyah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Leiyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leiyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leiyah 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 Leiyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leiyah 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 Leiyah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Leiyah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.