Aya

What Aya means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Aya yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Up from #892 in 2015 to #644 in 2025 in the US Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Aya?

US: Rising: up from #892 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #405 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2024, when 469 girls got the name (#630 that year). First in the US records in 1972.

How common

• About 1 in 3,580 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,195 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,988 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 MI (1.04 per 1,000 girls), MA (0.71 per 1,000 girls), IL (0.61 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Aya is #644 in the US and #221 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 Aya were girls.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Ayah309 US · 338 E&W
• Aiya33 US · 6 E&W
• Aiyah16 US · 3 E&W
• Iyah15 US · 3 E&W
• Iya14 US
• Oya6 US
• Ayia5 US

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

• Aja

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Aya

Girls

• Naomi#47“my pleasantness”^*
• Yuna#950Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1983, with 5 babies
• Akira#983Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1973, with 6 babies
• Kiyomi#764Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #3,092 in 2015, #764 in 2025
• Ellie#24Editor’s note Up from #48 in 2015 to #24 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 260 US girls in the 2025 records
• Parker#106From a surname for “a gamekeeper”^*

For a brother

• Kenzo#628Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,740 in 2015, #628 in 2025
• Kenji#943Editor’s note Up from #1,406 in 2015 to #943 in 2025 in the US
• Kai#93“warrior”^*
• Jett#169Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #169 vs #452 in 2025
• Emiliano#94Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #94 vs #1,359 in 2025
• Mateo#8Same root as Matthew, meaning “gift of the Lord”^*

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