Alaia

What Alaia means

Means “joyful”

Borrowed in the 21st century from Basque Alaia, from alai (“joyful”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Alaia” (revision 61840158), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Alaia?

US: Rising: up from #664 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #1088 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2024, when 2,429 girls got the name (#112 that year). First in the US records in 1986.

How common

• About 1 in 693 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,554 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,789 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in RI (4.49 per 1,000 girls), DE (3.55 per 1,000 girls), AK (3.02 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Alaia is #117 in the US and #279 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.7% of US babies named Alaia were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Alia499 US · 49 E&W
• Allie529 US · 13 E&W
• Elia263 US · 39 E&W
• Aleia279 US · 19 E&W
• Aliah193 US · 8 E&W
• Alaiah121 US
• Eleia90 US · 14 E&W
• Elaia58 US · 30 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Alaia

Girls

• Magnolia#124Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #634 in 2015, #124 in 2025
• Adaline#208Form of Adela, meaning “noble”^*
• Aurora#15Italian, from Latin Aurōra, meaning “dawn, sunrise”^*
• Emilia#45Variant of Emily, meaning “rival, emulator”^*
• Sylvie#282Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,175 in 2015, #282 in 2025
• Catalina#111Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #325 in 2015, #111 in 2025

For a brother

• Matias#170From Biblical Hebrew, meaning “gift of Yahweh”^*
• Myles#100Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #223 in 2015, #100 in 2025
• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*
• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*
• Luka#85Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #85 vs #261 in 2025
• Ezra#20Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #93 in 2015, #20 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Alaia’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.