Aliyah

What Aliyah means

Means “ascent”

Ultimately from Hebrew עלייה \ עֲלִיָּה (aliyá, “ascent”)

Source: Wiktionary, “Aliyah” (revision 85297378), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Aliyah?

US: Falling: down from #164 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #300 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2011, when 2,301 girls got the name (#133 that year). First in the US records in 1971.

How common

• About 1 in 1,353 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,026 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,491 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 DE (2.22 per 1,000 girls), NV (1.96 per 1,000 girls), SD (1.64 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Aliyah is #263 in the US and #345 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 Aliyah were girls.

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

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Alaya834 US · 188 E&W
• Alayah756 US · 109 E&W
• Aliya330 US · 80 E&W
• Alaiya343 US · 42 E&W
• Alya167 US · 70 E&W
• Alaiyah131 US · 17 E&W
• Aleyah119 US · 10 E&W
• Aleya105 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.

If you like Aliyah

Girls

• Aaliyah#101Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1976, with 18 babies
• Isabella#7Form of Isabel, meaning “my God is an oath”^*
• Aleah#965Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #444 in 2015, #965 in 2025
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records
• Gabriella#105Editor’s note Down from #54 in 2015 to #105 in 2025 in the US
• Sarai#424“master, chief”^*

For a brother

• Jonah#128“dove”^*
• Elijah#7“Yahweh is my god”^*
• Elisha#788Editor’s note Used for both: 85% of US babies named Elisha in 2025 were boys
• Isaac#47“he laughs, he will laugh”^*
• Noah#2Editor’s note Steady in the US: #1 in 2015 and #2 in 2025. About 1 in 84 US boys in the 2025 records
• Isaiah#57Editor’s note Down from #49 in 2015 to #57 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 320 US boys in the 2025 records

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