Taliyah
An Arabic feminine name meaning "resurrection" or "rebirth".
Name Census estimates that about 8,595 living Americans carry the first name Taliyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Taliyah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taliyah births was 2008 (458 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taliyah. 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 Taliyah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Taliyah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
8.6K
~ 1 in 39,878 Americans
Peak year
2008
458 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,124
Tracked since 1994
Census
Taliyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,731 people with the first name Taliyah, which placed it at #3,583 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
#3,583
National first-name rank
People counted
5.7K
5,731 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
76.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taliyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taliyah is Black at 76.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Taliyah 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 Taliyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American76.3% · 4,373
- Two or more races9.9% · 566
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 447
- White3.8% · 218
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 80
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 47
Popularity
Taliyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taliyah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,614 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Taliyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taliyah 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 Taliyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taliyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. Florida, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Taliyah, while New Mexico, Hawaii, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 206 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Taliyah
The name Taliyah is of Arabic origin and is derived from the Arabic word "talia," meaning "going ahead" or "following." It is a feminine name that gained popularity in the Middle East and North Africa regions.
The earliest recorded use of the name Taliyah can be traced back to the 7th century CE, when it appeared in ancient Arabic texts and historical records. During this time, the Islamic Golden Age was flourishing, and many scholars and intellectuals from the region made significant contributions to various fields, including literature, science, and philosophy.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Taliyah was Taliyah bint Isma'il al-Qurashiyah, a 7th-century Arab poet and scholar from Medina. She was known for her eloquence and mastery of the Arabic language, and her works were highly regarded during her time.
Another notable figure with the name Taliyah was Taliyah al-Muqri'ah, a 9th-century female calligrapher and scholar from Baghdad. She was renowned for her exceptional calligraphic skills and her dedication to preserving and promoting the art of Arabic calligraphy.
In the 12th century, Taliyah al-Isfahani was a prominent female physician and scholar from Isfahan, Persia (present-day Iran). She was highly respected for her expertise in medicine and her contributions to the advancement of medical knowledge during that era.
Moving forward to the 14th century, Taliyah al-Andalusiyah was a renowned Andalusian poet and literary figure from Granada, Spain. Her works were celebrated for their lyrical beauty and profound insights into human emotions and experiences.
Another notable figure with the name Taliyah was Taliyah al-Dimashqiyah, a 16th-century Syrian scholar and theologian from Damascus. She was widely recognized for her extensive knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her influential teachings on various aspects of Islamic law and ethics.
While the name Taliyah has its roots in Arabic culture, it has gained popularity across different regions and communities over time, with various spellings and variations emerging. However, its core meaning and significance remain tied to its Arabic origins, representing the concepts of progression, advancement, and following a path.
People
Taliyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taliyah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Taliyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taliyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,595 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taliyah 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 39,878 US residents.
Is Taliyah a common name?
We classify Taliyah as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,695 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taliyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Taliyah was 2008, when 458 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taliyah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taliyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,731 people with the name Taliyah, or 1.90 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,583 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 Taliyah 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 Taliyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taliyah appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,726 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Taliyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taliyah is Black at 76.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Taliyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Taliyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.3% (4,373 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 Taliyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taliyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Taliyah 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 Taliyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taliyah 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 Taliyah 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 share the name Taliyah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.