Nameling

Aliya

Gender
Girl
Say it
AH-lee-ya
Origin
Arabic
UK rank, 2025
#506 for girls
US rank, 2025
#823 for girls

Aliya is a girls' name of Arabic origin, meaning “high, exalted”. In 2025 it ranked 506th for girls in the UK (87 babies) and 823rd for girls in the US (330 babies).

What does Aliya mean?

Arabic

“high, exalted”

From the Arabic root meaning to be high or lofty, the same root as the name Ali.

Is Aliya a girl's or a boy's name?

Aliya is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 87 girls in the UK and 330 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.

How popular is Aliya in the UK?

Rank in 2025
#506among girls
Babies in 2025
87about 1 in 3,200 girls
Five-year trend
Steadydown 16% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 87 girls in the UK were named Aliya, making it the 506th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 544th. Its busiest year was 2006, with 111 girls.

2025 had more girls named Aliya than any year since 2018.

Half of all the girls named Aliya in the UK since 1996 were born between 2005 and 2018. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier girls aren't counted.

Among girls in 2025, it was 502nd in England and Wales and 429th in Scotland.

1996Busiest: 111 in 20062025
Aliya in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
202587#506
202475#568
202366#617
202278#547
202183#539
202081#544
201983#538
2018107#458
2017105#467
201682#564
201585#551
201483#562
201388#529
201296#501
201173#608
201088#513
200996#472
2008101#456
200797#456
2006111#406
200583#482
200490#441
200384#451
200293#395
200167#490
200051#590
199957#556
199853#567
199737#733
199656#523

How popular is Aliya in the US?

Rank in 2025
#823among girls
Babies in 2025
330about 1 in 4,900 girls
Five-year trend
Steadyup 5% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 330 girls in the US were named Aliya, making it the 823rd most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 863rd. Its busiest year was 2012, with 483 girls. It first appears in the records in 1971.

Half of all the girls named Aliya in the US since 1880 were born between 2002 and 2017, the years shaded on the chart below.

1971Busiest: 483 in 20122025
Aliya in the US, year by year
YearGirlsRank
2025330#823
2024316#856
2023310#862
2022332#843
2021362#783
2020312#863
2019304#886
2018293#915
2017287#923
2016332#852
2015293#928
2014318#866
2013358#760
2012483#598
2011432#657
2010450#652
2009452#655
2008460#668
2007395#738
2006404#703
2005396#698
2004342#761
2003323#769
2002327#743
2001343#715
2000322#718
1999215#958
1998188#1,045
1997162#1,146
1996149#1,202
1995121#1,352
1994107#1,473
199367#2,040
199257#2,290
199155#2,314
199030#3,518
198956#2,164
198830#3,220
198736#2,721
198639#2,511
198528#3,169
198439#2,420
198324#3,339
198244#2,250
198148#2,119
198047#2,154
197947#2,112
197830#2,741
197728#2,837
197621#3,286
197528#2,680
197422#3,110
197332#2,349
197233#2,276
197116#3,787

Names like Aliya

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Aaliyah Safa Safiya Zainab Amira Ayah Hiba Sumayyah Hafsa Abeeha Khadija Ruqayyah

Names related to Aliya

Alaya Alaia Aliyah Aila Aiyla Alia Alya Alaiya Aleia

More Arabic names

Muhammad Layla Mohammed Lyla Mohammad Zara Amir Fatima Ali Yahya Zayn Aisha Omar Zahra Hamza Kairo

Every Arabic name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Aliya: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/aliya, updated 20 October 2026.