Alia

What Alia means

Feminine form of Ali, meaning “high, exalted”

feminine form of Ali || From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).

Source: Wiktionary, “Alia” (revision 90670414) and “Ali” (revision 94465833), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Alia?

US: Steady: #612 in 2015, #587 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #656 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2023, when 545 girls got the name (#556 that year). First in the US records in 1915.

How common

• About 1 in 3,221 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 5,169 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,556 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 CT (1.04 per 1,000 girls), NV (0.76 per 1,000 girls), NY (0.59 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Alia is #587 in the US and #747 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Alia were girls.

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

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Alaia2,318 US · 163 E&W
• Allie529 US · 13 E&W
• Elia263 US · 39 E&W
• Aleia279 US · 19 E&W
• Aleah265 US · 5 E&W
• Aliah193 US · 8 E&W
• Alaiah121 US
• Eleia90 US · 14 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.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Aaliyah
• Aliya
• Aliyah
• Aleah

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Alia

Girls

• Zahra#538Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1973, with 8 babies
• Maryam#351Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #52 vs #351 in 2025
• Amina#315“faithful, trustworthy”^*
• Salem#435Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,425 in 2015, #435 in 2025
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Amira#132“princess”^*

For a brother

• Muhammad#239“praised, commendable, laudable”^*
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Yousef#744Editor’s note Up from #788 in 2015 to #744 in 2025 in the US
• Zayd#632Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #181 vs #632 in 2025
• Ameer#980Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1969, with 14 babies
• Ibrahim#351Editor’s note Up from #436 in 2015 to #351 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Alia’s. Rank is US 2025.