Alaa
Feminine · “blessings”
Alaa is given to both — 1,525 girls and 464 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Alaa is an Arabic name that can be read two ways, and both readings are real and rather lovely: the blessings that are given, and the height that is reached. It is used for women and men alike across the Arab world.
How old is the name Alaa?
Alaa first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Alaa alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 1,500 people named Alaa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alaa most popular?
Alaa peaked in 2017, reaching #2779 nationally. Today it ranks #3211, 432 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Alaa appears on this list:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Alaa
Arabic distinguishes these two words clearly in its own script and English does not, which is why one Roman spelling carries both. The blessings reading is the more common one for women, drawing on a Qur'anic refrain that asks which of the Lord's bounties one would deny. The loftiness reading is the older element in compound men's names. Both are in use, and families from Syria, Egypt, Iraq and the Gulf carry the name in either sense.
Meaningscholars disagree
blessings, or exaltation
Two distinct Arabic words are written this way in Roman letters. One is the plural meaning bounties or blessings, which appears repeatedly in a much-recited chapter of the Qur'an. The other means loftiness or nobility and is the element in the name Alaa al-Din, which English knows as Aladdin.
Pronouncing Alaa
ah-LAA
Two syllables with the stress on the long second. The doubled a marks length, not a separate sound.
Nicknames for Alaa
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1981
- Most girls named
- 201761 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2779reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −16.9%49 in 2025, from 59
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alaa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ala in Arabic — transliteration
- Alaa' in Arabic — spelling variant
- Ala in Turkish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan, New York, California.
Alaas among us
people named Alaa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 32,801 born in 2025 was named Alaa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Alaa
- #3211
- Alaa on the 2025 chart
- #880
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Alaa went to 49 girls in 2025, but Ala, Aalaa and Alla are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 80, which makes it the 880th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,331 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 20,091 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 32,801 for Alaa itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Tyann test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alaa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tyann climbed just as high around 1970, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tyann's path sketches the road Alaa is walking now.
Alaa sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Alaa is headed
Alaa should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Alaa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alaa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, about as short as an Arabic name gets.
- Both of its readings are documented and both are attractive.
- It is used for women and men, which makes it workable before a birth.
- The doubled a puzzles American forms and readers, who will try to correct it to Ala.
- Because the name is used for both sexes, paperwork will sometimes guess wrong.
- It is close to Alia and Aliyah in an English ear and will be confused with them.
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What they receive
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Alaa
Feminine · #3211 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alaas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Alaa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Alaa?
- Alaa is the most-used spelling in US records — 49 of the 80 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Ala, Aalaa and Alla.
- How popular is the name Alaa in 2025?
- Alaa ranks #3211 among US girl names in 2025, with 49 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alaa?
- About 1 in every 32,801 US girls born in 2025 was named Alaa — 49 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alaa with classmates?
- Alaa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alaa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kristine#3211 · Jalaya#3211 · Gladys#3211 · Amyah#3211 · Dhara#3211 · Janelly#3211 · Dariela#3211 · Quetzalli#3211
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alaa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alaa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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