Illyana
Feminine · “the Lord is my God”
Illyana can be built from Ilya, the Slavic Elijah, or from Ilion — the Greek name for Troy, which gives the Iliad its title.
How old is the name Illyana?
Illyana first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Illyana alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 700 people named Illyana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Illyana most popular?
Illyana peaked in 2012, reaching #4121 nationally. Today it ranks #4661, 540 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Illyana
Ours, offered as ours. The Iliad is named for Ilion, an alternative name for Troy, so the title means the poem about Ilion. The city had two names in Greek — Troia and Ilion — and both survive: one in the word Trojan, the other in the poem's title and in the names Iliana and Ilias. Homer used them interchangeably. A city destroyed three thousand years ago is still handing out names.
Meaningscholars disagree
the Lord is my God; or of Troy
Slavic Ilya is Elijah, from Hebrew Eliyahu, a complete sentence. Greek Ilion is Troy, and Iliana means Trojan. The two are unrelated and both are plausible parents for the modern spelling.
Pronouncing Illyana
ill-ee-AH-nah
Four syllables with the stress on the third. Some families say ill-YAH-nah.
Nicknames for Illyana
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
- 1989
- Most girls named
- 201236 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4121reached in 2012
- Change vs 2024
- +11.5%29 in 2025, from 26
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.
Illyana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ilyana in Russian — spelling variant
- Iliana in Greek — related form
- Iliana in Spanish — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Illyanas among us
people named Illyana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 55,423 born in 2025 was named Illyana
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Illyana
- #4661
- Illyana on the 2025 chart
- #432
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Illyana went to 29 girls in 2025, but Iliana, Ilyana and Illiana and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 10 spellings went to 654, which makes it the 432nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,229 places above the chart.
and 2 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 2,458 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 55,423 for Illyana 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 Mikka test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Illyana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mikka climbed just as high around 1989, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mikka's path sketches the road Illyana is walking now.
Illyana 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 Illyana is headed
Illyana 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.
Illyana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Illyana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two substantial and entirely different histories stand behind it.
- Yana and Ana are both complete names in their own right.
- Every vowel is sounded, so it reads correctly in most languages.
- The doubled l is unusual and will be spelled out constantly.
- Illyana, Iliana and Ilyana are all in use and none is dominant.
- Seven letters and four syllables is a lot for early handwriting.
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What they receive
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Illyana
Feminine · #4661 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Illyanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Illyana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Illyana?
- Illyana is one of 8 recorded spellings. Iliana is the more common one — 380 births in 2025 against 29 for Illyana.
- How popular is the name Illyana in 2025?
- Illyana ranks #4661 among US girl names in 2025, with 29 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Illyana?
- About 1 in every 55,423 US girls born in 2025 was named Illyana — 29 in all.
- Will my child share the name Illyana with classmates?
- Illyana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Illyana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ellenor#4661 · Roselie#4661 · Marni#4661 · Menucha#4661 · Infinity#4661 · Lilya#4661 · Railyn#4661 · Zada#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Illyana? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Illyana and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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