Aliyah
Meaning
"ascent, to go up"
The story
Aliyah is a name with two ascents built in. Our meaning records carry the Hebrew: ascent, to go up, the same word Jewish tradition uses for moving to Israel and for being called up to read Torah. American ears mostly arrived through a different door: the Arabic 'aliyah, exalted, made famous by the singer Aaliyah, whose brief and brilliant career ended in 2001. The record shows the family of spellings surging together: about 5,000 in the 1990s, 15,300 in the 2000s, 20,200 in the 2010s, with 8,100 so far this decade, every one of them this decade a girl. Aaliyah, Aliyah, Aleah and Aliya chart separately, and the shared sound is enormous. In our records this spelling counts about 49,000 girls to 43 boys. Two traditions, one direction: up.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Aliyah peaked in the 2010s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
71 people · the #52,382 first name in Brazil · median age 4
Among people named Aliyah living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 28 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Aliyah
Most people given the name Aliyah in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Aliyah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Aliyah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Aliyah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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