Ilia
Feminine
Ilia is given to both — 821 girls and 256 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Ilia is the Roman name for the mother of Romulus and Remus, and it is also the Georgian and Russian form of Elijah — a men's name there.
How old is the name Ilia?
Ilia first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Ilia alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 800 people named Ilia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ilia most popular?
Ilia peaked in 1980, reaching #2278 nationally. Today it ranks #4172, 1,894 places below that high. See the whole 1980 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Ilia
Ours, offered as ours. Rome told two stories about its founding and joined them awkwardly: descent from Troy through Aeneas, and the wolf-suckled twins. Ilia is the join — the twins' mother, given a name pointing at Ilium, Troy. Quite separately, Slavic and Georgian give Ilia for Elijah, and Ilia Chavchavadze is a founding figure of modern Georgian literature. Two unrelated names, one spelling, and a founding myth in each.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Roman Ilia is a variant of Rhea Silvia and is generally connected to Ilium, the other name of Troy, from which the Romans claimed descent. Separately Ilia is the Slavic and Georgian form of Elijah, my God is the Lord. The two are unrelated.
Pronouncing Ilia
EE-lee-ah
Three syllables, first stressed. Russian gives eel-YAH, which is a different name.
Nicknames for Ilia
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
- 1912
- Most girls named
- 202534 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2278reached in 1980
- Change vs 2024
- +142.9%34 in 2025, from 14
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.
Ilia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Илья in Russian — related form
- ილია in Georgian — related form
- Ilia in Latin — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Ilias among us
people named Ilia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 47,273 born in 2025 was named Ilia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Ilia
- #4172
- Ilia on the 2025 chart
- #892
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ilia went to 34 girls in 2025, but Ilya and Iliyah are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 68, which makes it the 892nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,280 places above the chart.
- Ilia34
- Ilya26
- Iliyah8
About 1 girl in 23,636 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 47,273 for Ilia 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 Alfreida test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ilia's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Alfreida climbed just as high around 1947, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Alfreida's path sketches the road Ilia is walking now.
Ilia 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 Ilia is headed
Ilia 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.
Ilia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ilia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two real traditions produce it, Roman and Slavic.
- Lia is a complete short form in several languages.
- Four letters and three syllables, quick to write.
- In Russian and Georgian it is a men's name and said differently.
- Ilia, Ilya and Ileana are all close and get confused.
- The Roman name's own meaning is not securely established.
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What they receive
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Ilia
Feminine · #4172 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ilias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Ilia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Ilia?
- Ilia is the most-used spelling in US records — 34 of the 68 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Ilya and Iliyah.
- How popular is the name Ilia in 2025?
- Ilia ranks #4172 among US girl names in 2025, with 34 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ilia?
- About 1 in every 47,273 US girls born in 2025 was named Ilia — 34 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ilia with classmates?
- Ilia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ilia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseanna#4172 · Elida#4172 · Neila#4172 · Savina#4172 · Kendyl#4172 · Zakiya#4172 · Naisha#4172 · Ethel#4172
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ilia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ilia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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