Name Awesome

Ilya

#3,152 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Form of Elijah

Ilya has been given to 1,226 babies in the U.S. since 1966. In 2025 it ranked #3,152 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2018, with 48 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 79% boys, 21% girls all-time.

Babies named Ilya, 2025

1 in 87,200

Ilya over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Ilya over time

In 2025, Ilya went to 41% girls and 59% boys.

19612025

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.

Ilya: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Elijah

Russian

What Ilya means

Ilya is a form of Elijah.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Ilya → Elijah. The family’s meaning is “Yahweh is my god”, recorded in English with the source elements Eliyahu.

Origin, language, and formation

Ilya is used in English. Its origins include Russian.

Ilya comes through Russian Илья́.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Elijah, Илья́ and Ілья́.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 970 boys were recorded with the name Ilya between 1966 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 48 in 2018; its best national rank was #2,622 in 2018.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,043 in 2020 to #3,152 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,181 in 2015 to #3,152 in 2025.

In the United States, 256 girls were recorded with the name Ilya between 1961 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 26 in 2025; its best national rank was #5,026 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #6,163 in 2020 to #5,026 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #13,536 in 2015 to #5,026 in 2025.

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 Ilya?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 87,200
38 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 44,900
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,152
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
60,472 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ilya 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 60,472 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ilya. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ilyas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ilya was born before 2012 — so the typical Ilya is around 13 today.

Median birth year
2012
About 13 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
37.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
81.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
970
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 37.1% of all recorded uses (360).

Is Ilya 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
+400
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−109
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+29
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.06×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
79.2%
Peak was 2018 (48)
Years since peak
7
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,622
2018

Spellings of Ilya

Ilya is not the most common spelling — Ira is, with 50.2% against Ilya's 0.88%.

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.

Where Ilya is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Ilya was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 239,542 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Washington1 in 100,000
  3. 3Florida1 in —
  4. 4New York1 in —
  5. 5Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Ilya has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Ilya is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Ilya was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 2,572,154 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Ilya has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Ilya around the world

Where Ilya 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.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2025
    #1,897
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2004–2025
    #829
    in 2025
  • France
    1982–2025
    #1,677
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2002–2024
    #1,390
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1967–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Ilya by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,152
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 109
Best rank ever
#2,622
2018
Peak year
2018
48 that year
First recorded
1966
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
970
Count in 2025
38

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#5,026
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,137
Best rank ever
#5,026
2025
Peak year
2025
26 that year
First recorded
1961
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
256
Count in 2025
26

Names similar to Ilya

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

IlyasElyaIlyanIlyaasIllyaGedalyaIlyesIlyassIlyjahKolyaIlyaneKaivalya

Sibling names for Ilya

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 Ilya

Top names of 2018, Ilya's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2018Boys' names starting with IRussian Boy NamesRussian Names