Alaiah
Feminine · “exalted”
Alaiah is one of many American spellings of the same sound, and the Arabic aliyah behind it means exalted — from a root that gives one of the highest words in the language.
How old is the name Alaiah?
Alaiah first appears in US birth records in 2002 — 23 years ago. The typical Alaiah is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,200 people named Alaiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alaiah most popular?
Alaiah peaked in 2020, reaching #1455 nationally. Today it ranks #1692, 237 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From aliyah to Alaiah
The story of Alaiah
Aaliyah entered wide American use in the 1990s and became one of the most-respelled names in the registers — Aliyah, Aleah, Alaiah, Alaya. Some families were reaching for the Arabic; some for the sound. Alaiah appears in the American registers in the 2000s and is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
exalted, sublime
The likeliest inherited route is the Arabic aliyah, the feminine of ali, 'high' or 'exalted' — a root that gives Al-Ali, one of the ninety-nine names of God. Whether this spelling descends from it or is a coinage on the -aiah ending is not documented. Both are in circulation.
How the name formed
- aliyah
- Alaiah
Related forms: عالية · Aaliyah · Alaya
Pronouncing Alaiah
uh-LY-uh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Arabic aliyah gives the first vowel a longer hold.
Nicknames for Alaiah
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
- 2002
- Most girls named
- 2020148 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1455reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- +28.7%121 in 2025, from 94
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.
Alaiah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- عالية in Arabic — related form
- Aaliyah in English — related form
- Alaya in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Alaiahs among us
people named Alaiah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 13,283 born in 2025 was named Alaiah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Alaiah
- #1692
- Alaiah on the 2025 chart
- #51
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Alaiah went to 121 girls in 2025, but Alaia, Alaya and Alayah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 13 spellings went to 4,700, which makes it the 51st most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,641 places above the chart.
and 5 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 342 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 13,283 for Alaiah 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 Maryjean test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alaiah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Maryjean climbed just as high around 1944, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Maryjean's path sketches the road Alaiah is walking now.
Alaiah 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 Alaiah is headed
Alaiah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Alaiah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alaiah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Arabic root behind the sound has a genuinely elevated meaning.
- Aya is available as a short form that is a real name in two languages.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- The descent from the Arabic is claimed rather than documented for this spelling.
- At least five spellings of the sound are in common use.
- It will be respelled by other people constantly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Alaiah
Feminine · #1692 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alaiahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Alaiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Alaiah?
- Alaiah is one of 8 recorded spellings. Alaia is the more common one — 2,318 births in 2025 against 121 for Alaiah.
- How popular is the name Alaiah in 2025?
- Alaiah ranks #1692 among US girl names in 2025, with 121 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alaiah?
- About 1 in every 13,283 US girls born in 2025 was named Alaiah — 121 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alaiah with classmates?
- Alaiah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alaiah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marielle#1692 · Azula#1692 · Jaelynn#1692 · Yasmeen#1692 · Hadassa#1692 · Tahlia#1692 · Laynee#1692 · Brynnlee#1692
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alaiah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alaiah and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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