Name Awesome

Alija

#12,094 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Form of Ali

Alija has been given to 179 babies in the U.S. since 2001. In 2025 it ranked #12,094 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2019, with 12 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 73% boys, 27% girls all-time.

Babies named Alija, 2025

1 in 663,000

Alija over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Alija over time

In 2025, Alija went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19952025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Alija: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Ali

Arabic

What Alija means

Alija is a form of Ali.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Alija is used in Bosnian.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Alija → Ali. The family’s meaning is “high, exalted”, recorded in English with the source elements ʕaliyy.

Origin, language, and formation

Alija is used in English and Serbo-Croatian. Its origins include Arabic.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ali and Алија.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 130 boys were recorded with the name Alija between 2001 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 12 in 2019; its best national rank was #6,635 in 2020.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #6,635 in 2020 to #12,094 in 2025.

In the United States, 49 girls were recorded with the name Alija between 1995 and 2017. Its highest annual count was 10 in 2002; its best national rank was #9,506 in 2002.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Alija?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 663,000
5 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 342,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#12,094
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
459,581 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Alija sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 459,581 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Alija. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Alijas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Alija was born before 2014 — so the typical Alija is around 11 today.

Median birth year
2014
About 11 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
40.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
130
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 40.8% of all recorded uses (53).

Is Alija rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−1,086
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−5,459
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
41.7%
Peak was 2019 (12)
Years since peak
6
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
23.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#6,635
2020

Spellings of Alija

Alija is not the most common spelling — Elijah is, with 81.5% against Alija's 0.03%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Alija around the world

Where Alija ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • France
    2013–2013
    #4,733
    in 2013
  • South Australia
    1965–2006
    #657
    in 2006

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Alija by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#12,094
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 5,459
Best rank ever
#6,635
2020
Peak year
2019
12 that year
First recorded
2001
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
130
Count in 2025
5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#9,506
2002
Peak year
2002
10 that year
First recorded
1995
Last recorded
2017
All-time count
49
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Alija

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AlianAliouAlieuAlikaiAliyanAliyasAlizeAlifAliiAliyarAlihanIlijaAliusAliouneAlistarAlikAlickAlishaAlinAlikhanAliasAlisonAlieAlic

Sibling names for Alija

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Alija

Top names of 2019, Alija's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2020Boys' names starting with A