Liyan
- Gender
- Mostly girls
- Say it
- lee-YAHN
- Origin
- Arabic
- UK rank, 2025
- #2,675 for girls
- US rank, 2025
- #7,675 for boys
Liyan is a name of Arabic origin, meaning “softness, gentleness”. In 2025 it ranked 2,675th for girls in the UK (10 babies) and 7,675th for boys in the US (10 babies).
What does Liyan mean?
Arabic: spelling of Layan; also a Chinese given name
“softness, gentleness”
Is Liyan a girl's or a boy's name?
In recent years, Liyan has been given to girls and boys, mostly girls. In 2025, it was given to 10 girls and 8 boys in the UK and 6 girls and 10 boys in the US.
How popular is Liyan in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 2,675th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 10 about 1 in 28,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising up 64% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 10 girls in the UK were named Liyan, making it the 2,675th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 4,110th. 8 boys were also named Liyan in 2025 (2,742nd for boys).
2025 had the most girls named Liyan of any year since it first appeared, in 2013.
Half of all the girls named Liyan in the UK since 1996 were born between 2018 and 2023, the years shaded on the chart below.
Among girls in 2025, it was 2,603rd in England and Wales.
Liyan in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 | #2,675 |
| 2024 | 4 | #4,907 |
| 2023 | 9 | #2,841 |
| 2022 | 9 | #2,805 |
| 2021 | 4 | #4,864 |
| 2020 | 5 | #4,110 |
| 2019 | 4 | #4,904 |
| 2018 | 5 | #4,204 |
| 2017 | 3 | #5,998 |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 4 | #4,951 |
| 2014 | 3 | #5,920 |
| 2013 | 6 | #3,719 |
How popular is Liyan in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 7,675th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 10 about 1 in 170,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 10 boys in the US were named Liyan, making it the 7,675th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 12,016th. It first appears in the records in 2016. 6 girls were also named Liyan in 2025 (13,203rd for girls).
2025 had the most boys named Liyan of any year since it first appeared, in 2016.
Half of all the boys named Liyan in the US since 1880 were born between 2018 and 2023, the years shaded on the chart below.
Liyan in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 | #7,675 |
| 2024 | 7 | #9,888 |
| 2023 | 8 | #8,916 |
| 2022 | 9 | #8,293 |
| 2021 | 9 | #8,161 |
| 2020 | 5 | #12,016 |
| 2019 | 6 | #10,797 |
| 2018 | 6 | #10,754 |
| 2017 | 6 | #10,770 |
| 2016 | 7 | #9,659 |
Names like Liyan
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Ayah, Safa, Zainab, Hafsa, Hiba, Rehmat, Nusaybah, Amal, Rahma, Khadija, Abeeha, Ayra
Names related to Liyan
Liyana, Liana, Layan, Lian, Liyanah, Liyaana, Lyana, Liyanna, Lyan, Luian
More Arabic names
Muhammad, Layla, Mohammed, Lyla, Mohammad, Zara, Aaliyah, Amir, Amira, Fatima, Ali, Yahya, Zayn, Aisha, Omar, Zahra
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, “Liyan: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/liyan, updated 20 October 2026.