Girl's name
Aaliyah
Say it uh-LEE-uh
Arabic origin 3 syllables
Where Aaliyah is loved, common and rare
Common across New Zealand and Australia. Rare in the UK, Canada, four German cities and seven more places.
1 in 688 girls born in England and Wales in 2025
England and Wales 132ndOntario 146thCologne 159th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 21 of the 40 official lists, among them England and Wales (132nd), Ontario (146th) and Cologne (159th).
Show all 21 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 70th 2025 | 52 | rank only |
| Victoria state | 80th 2025 | 77 | rank only |
| New South Wales state | 86th 2025 | 83 | rank only |
| Queensland state | 94th 2025 | 53 | rank only |
| England and Wales | 132nd 2025 | 368 | 1 in 688 |
| Ontario province | 146th 2024 | 76 | about 1 in 717 |
| Cologne city | 159th 2023 | 7 | about 1 in 878 |
| British Columbia province | 177th 2023 | 17 | about 1 in 703 |
| Northern Ireland | 177th 2025 | 10 | 1 in 729 |
| Berlin city | 185th 2023 | 16 | about 1 in 906 |
| France | 187th 2025 | 305 | 1 in 940 |
| Scotland | 191st 2025 | 21 | 1 in 852 |
| Ireland | 226th 2025 | 19 | 1 in 1,112 |
| The Netherlands | 238th 2025 | 62 | about 1 in 984 |
| Sweden | 251st 2025 | 30 | about 1 in 1,339 |
| Switzerland | 309th 2025 | 23 | 1 in 1,478 |
| Quebec province | 312th 2025 | 17 | about 1 in 1,530 |
| Austria | 474th 2025 | 10 | 1 in 3,572 |
| Italy | 2927th 2024 | 2 | 1 in 89,585 |
| Leipzig city | 344th 2025 | 1 | about 1 in 2,624 |
| Bonn city | 382nd 2025 | 1 | about 1 in 3,015 |
Rare, below the listed names: South Australia, Munich, Rostock, Norway, Spain, Catalonia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), SmartStart (New Zealand); Registry of BDM Victoria (DataVic) (Victoria); NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (Data.NSW) (New South Wales); Queensland Registry of BDM (Qld Open Data Portal) (Queensland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); NISRA (Northern Ireland); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source
About the name
Aaliyah is a transliteration of the Arabic 'aliya, a word built on an Arabic root. No meaning is attested for the name itself, so it is best described by its Arabic roots and by the way it has travelled into English-speaking use.
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It has three syllables, uh-LEE-uh, with the stress in the middle and a flowing, vowel-rich sound. The double A at the start is a spelling feature, and Aliyah is the simpler spelling of the same name.
Aaliyah is especially popular in Australia and New Zealand: it is a top-100 name in New Zealand, Victoria and New South Wales. It is also used in France, the Netherlands and Sweden. It is a recent favourite, first appearing in France only at the end of the last century and reaching its peak there in 2024, and it is rising in slightly more places than it is falling.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- uh-LEE-uh, 3 syllables
- Origin
- Arabic
- Other spellings
- Aliyah
Etymology
Transliteration of Arabic 'aliya (root '-l-y); popularized by the American singer Aaliyah Haughton (1979-2001).
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 6 of 18 regions, falling in 4.
Show the yearsShow less
Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 123 | 129 | 128 | 141 | 125 | 132 | 130 | 137 | 148 | 132 |
| Scotland | 142 | 183 | 193 | 175 | 197 | 117 | 139 | 163 | 215 | 191 |
| Northern Ireland | 166 | 150 | 195 | 200 | 228 | 181 | 183 | 178 | 288 | 177 |
| Ireland | 228 | 219 | 319 | 192 | 410 | 242 | 237 | 279 | 232 | 226 |
| Ontario | 88 | 84 | 103 | 113 | 116 | 107 | 99 | 127 | 146 | |
| British Columbia | 162 | 134 | 143 | 184 | 197 | 157 | 170 | 177 | ||
| New South Wales | 73 | 65 | 73 | 78 | 64 | 75 | 80 | 75 | 91 | 86 |
| Victoria | 84 | 76 | 92 | 80 | ||||||
| Queensland | 77 | 84 | 89 | 79 | 80 | 90 | 98 | 94 | ||
| South Australia | 107 | 74 | 90 | 72 | ||||||
| New Zealand | 56 | 68 | 82 | 70 | 78 | 64 | 99 | 70 | ||
| Quebec | 454 | 294 | 258 | 313 | 279 | 287 | 276 | 296 | 273 | 312 |
| France | 310 | 305 | 318 | 268 | 238 | 232 | 210 | 170 | 158 | 187 |
| The Netherlands | 250 | 272 | 228 | 331 | 268 | 258 | 232 | 244 | 238 | |
| Austria | 666 | 756 | 754 | 476 | 482 | 597 | 366 | 487 | 383 | 474 |
| Switzerland | 445 | 260 | 409 | 243 | 363 | 276 | 354 | 272 | 387 | 309 |
| Berlin | 386 | 419 | 287 | 233 | 145 | 213 | 301 | 185 | ||
| Munich | 260 | 180 | 170 | |||||||
| Cologne | 236 | 345 | 145 | 174 | 121 | 170 | 143 | 159 | ||
| Bonn | 220 | 222 | 359 | 371 | 168 | 264 | 117 | 96 | 223 | 382 |
| Leipzig | 192 | 411 | 378 | 265 | 201 | 186 | 215 | 222 | 344 | |
| Rostock | 68 | |||||||||
| Sweden | 620 | 321 | 378 | 321 | 470 | 411 | 344 | 361 | 300 | 251 |
| Poland | 500 | 400 | 574 | 507 | 612 |
England and Wales, 1996 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 132 | 368 | 145.3 |
| 2024 | 148 | 339 | 131.4 |
| 2023 | 137 | 356 | 138.8 |
| 2022 | 130 | 385 | 146.1 |
| 2021 | 132 | 385 | 140.5 |
| 2020 | 125 | 397 | 147.9 |
| 2019 | 141 | 352 | 125.7 |
| 2018 | 128 | 406 | 140.8 |
| 2017 | 129 | 434 | 145.1 |
| 2016 | 123 | 478 | 155.6 |
| 2015 | 133 | 426 | 138.3 |
| 2014 | 125 | 446 | 145.4 |
| 2013 | 121 | 463 | 150.1 |
| 2012 | 125 | 454 | 141.0 |
| 2011 | 116 | 501 | 155.9 |
| 2010 | 129 | 443 | 138.0 |
| 2009 | 132 | 417 | 133.1 |
| 2008 | 122 | 422 | 133.6 |
| 2007 | 143 | 379 | 123.8 |
| 2006 | 108 | 487 | 162.7 |
| 2005 | 129 | 426 | 147.8 |
| 2004 | 109 | 488 | 170.7 |
| 2003 | 96 | 531 | 190.5 |
| 2002 | 92 | 533 | 199.4 |
| 2001 | 182 | 230 | 85.8 |
| 2000 | 268 | 147 | 53.8 |
| 1999 | 429 | 70 | 24.8 |
| 1998 | 320 | 112 | 38.7 |
| 1997 | 283 | 128 | 43.7 |
| 1996 | 319 | 111 | 37.5 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
France since 1925
Half of the babies named Aaliyah in France since 1925 were born in or after 2018. First recorded in 1998. Her peak year there: 2024, at 117.5 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Aaliyah per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period. Her 2024 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.
Sister names for Aaliyah
1 in 232 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Aaliyah.
1 in 208 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Aaliyah.
1 in 197 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Aaliyah.
1 in 662 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Aaliyah.
1 in 344 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Aaliyah.
1 in 754 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Aaliyah.
1 in 1,025 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Aaliyah. Same first letter as Aaliyah.
Similar forms, not dealt separately: Aria.
1 in 298 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Aaliyah.
1 in 1,634 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Aaliyah. Same first letter as Aaliyah.
1 in 459 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Aaliyah.
Middle names for Aaliyah
1 in 107 in Northern Ireland
Aaliyah Charlotte
3-2 beats · initials AC
Changes the beat after Aaliyah: 3 syllables, then 2 syllables.
1 in 86 in Ireland
Aaliyah Sophie
3-2 beats · initials AS
Changes the beat after Aaliyah: 3 syllables, then 2 syllables.
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Aaliyah Grace
3-1 beats · initials AG
Changes the beat after Aaliyah: 3 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Aaliyah Olivia
3-4 beats · initials AO · Aaliyah slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Aaliyah: 3 syllables, then 4 syllables. Aaliyah slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 102 in Ireland
Aaliyah Mia
3-2 beats · initials AM
Changes the beat after Aaliyah: 3 syllables, then 2 syllables.
1 in 132 in Northern Ireland
Aaliyah Ruby
3-2 beats · initials AR
Changes the beat after Aaliyah: 3 syllables, then 2 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Aaliyah Rose
3-1 beats · initials AR
Changes the beat after Aaliyah: 3 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 173 in Northern Ireland
Aaliyah Nora
3-2 beats · initials AN
Changes the beat after Aaliyah: 3 syllables, then 2 syllables.
Same style as Aaliyah
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 166 in England and Wales
94% alike: moves with Aaliyah across countries and decades.
1 in 197 in Scotland
94% alike: moves with Aaliyah across countries and decades.
1 in 140 in Northern Ireland
94% alike: moves with Aaliyah across countries and decades.
1 in 109 in Ireland
94% alike: moves with Aaliyah across countries and decades.
1 in 189 in Ireland
94% alike: moves with Aaliyah across countries and decades.
1 in 108 in Scotland
94% alike: moves with Aaliyah across countries and decades.
1 in 124 in Scotland
93% alike: moves with Aaliyah across countries and decades.
1 in 202 in Northern Ireland
93% alike: moves with Aaliyah across countries and decades.
Famous people named Aaliyah
Aaliyah, Aaliyah Butler and Aaliyah Brown.
Show all 3Show less
-
American R&B singer (1979–2001)
-
American athlete (born 2003)
-
American athlete born 1995
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Aaliyah
4 questions, on how popular she is, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
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How popular is Aaliyah?
Her best rank is No. 70 in New Zealand in 2025. She is in the published lists of 21 of our 40 regions.
How do you pronounce Aaliyah?
uh-LEE-uh, with 3 syllables.
Is Aaliyah getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 6 of 18 regions, falling in 4.
Which sister names go with Aaliyah?
The deck's top five sisters for Aaliyah: Lyla, Zara, Layla, Mya and Eliana. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.