Baby Names US
Unisex name ★ peaked 2018

Ilya

Meaning A male given name from Russian Gender Unisex · 21% girls Rank 2025 #3,153 Trend ↓ Falling 12%

A male given name from Russian.

Rank 2025
#3,153
among boys · ↑401 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
64
named Ilya · +33% vs 2024
How common
1 in 44,949
boys born in 2025
Peak year
2018
65 babies
All-time total
1,226
#5,232 all-time among boys
First recorded
1961
in Social Security records

Ilya popularity over time

1,226 babies have been named Ilya since 1961, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.010.020.020.0318801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – – – – – –
1920s – – – – – –
1930s – – – – – –
1940s – – – – – –
1950s – – – – – –
1960s 5 16 21 2 – #2,764
1970s – 20 20 2 -5% #4,141
1980s 7 11 18 2 -10% #6,677
1990s 6 109 115 12 +539% #3,516
2000s 23 247 270 27 +135% #3,018
2010s 94 360 454 45 +68% #2,623
2020s (to 2025) 121 207 328 55 +20% #3,044

Where Ilya is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 37 0.02 outside top 500
2027 36 0.02 outside top 500
2028 36 0.02 outside top 500
2029 35 0.02 outside top 500
2030 35 0.02 outside top 500

The story of Ilya

Ilya is rare for boys in the United States, ranked #3,153 in 2025 with 38 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.

Since 1961, 1,226 American babies have been named Ilya, about 79% boys and 21% girls, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 2018, when 65 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2010s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Ilya stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Ilya?

The median living Ilya is about 11 years old; half are between 5 and 20. An estimated 1,200 people named Ilya are alive in the United States today.

median 11 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Ilya year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 26 #5,027 38 #3,153
2024 16 #7,058 32 #3,554
2023 21 #5,829 34 #3,446
2022 14 #7,780 27 #4,031
2021 25 #5,146 38 #3,146
2020 19 #6,167 38 #3,044
2019 13 #8,300 38 #3,121
2018 17 #6,914 48 #2,623
2017 6 #14,814 32 #3,480
2016 15 #7,749 27 #3,922
2015 7 #13,541 36 #3,182
2014 11 #9,777 31 #3,492
2013 8 #12,434 34 #3,225
2012 9 #11,633 40 #2,923
2011 – – 42 #2,822
2010 8 #12,742 32 #3,402
2009 9 #11,835 28 #3,763
2008 5 #18,577 22 #4,451
2007 – – 30 #3,542
2006 – – 26 #3,828
2005 – – 31 #3,275
2004 – – 19 #4,482
2003 – – 32 #3,018
2002 9 #10,543 14 #5,227
2001 – – 21 #3,893
2000 – – 24 #3,462
1995 – – 8 #6,617
1990 – – – –
1985 – – – –
1980 7 #8,470 – –
1975 – – – –
1970 – – – –
1965 – – – –
1960 – – – –
1955 – – – –
1950 – – – –
1945 – – – –
1940 – – – –
1935 – – – –
1930 – – – –
1925 – – – –
1920 – – – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Ilya

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Ilya Repin Ilya Repin Ukrainian-born Russian painter (1844–1930) 19th century
  2. 2 Ilya Kovalchuk Ilya Kovalchuk Russian ice hockey player (born 1983) Contemporary
  3. 3 Ilya Ehrenburg Ilya Ehrenburg Soviet writer (1891–1967) 19th century
  4. 4 Ilya Ulyanov Ilya Ulyanov Russian teacher, father of Vladimir Lenin (1831–1886) 19th century
  5. 5 Ilya Prigogine Ilya Prigogine Belgian physical chemist (1917–2003) Contemporary
  6. 6 Ilya Sorokin Ilya Sorokin Russian ice hockey player (born 1995) Contemporary
  7. 7 Ilya Ilyin Ilya Ilyin Kazakhstani weightlifter (born 1988) Contemporary
  8. 8 Ilya Kabakov Ilya Kabakov Ukrainian-American conceptual artist (1933–2023) Contemporary
  9. 9 Ilya Frank Ilya Frank Soviet physicist (1908–1990) Contemporary
  10. 10 Ilya Glazunov Ilya Glazunov Russian painter (1930–2017) Contemporary
  11. 11 Ilya Tsymbalar Ukrainian-Russian footballer (1969–2013) Contemporary
  12. 12 Ilya Ilf Ilya Ilf Soviet writer and journalist (1897–1937) 19th century
  13. 13 Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro Israeli mathematician (1929–2009) Contemporary
  14. 14 Ilya Smirin Ilya Smirin Israeli chess grandmaster (born 1968) Contemporary
  15. 15 Ilya Kutepov Ilya Kutepov Russian footballer (born 1993) Contemporary
  16. 16 Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov Russian-Soviet biologist (1870–1932) 19th century
  17. 17 Ilya Zakharov Ilya Zakharov Russian diver (born 1991) Contemporary
  18. 18 Ilya Nikulin Ilya Nikulin Russian ice hockey player (born 1982) Contemporary
  19. 19 Ilya Markov Ilya Markov Russian race walker b. 1972 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Ilya, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Ilya?

The median living Ilya is about 11 years old. Half of all living Ilyas are between 5 and 20 years old.

How many people named Ilya are alive today?

An estimated 1,200 people named Ilya are alive in the United States, based on 1,226 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Ilya mean?

A male given name from Russian.

How popular is the name Ilya in 2025?

Ilya ranked #3,153 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 38 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Ilya?

1,226 babies have been named Ilya in the United States since 1961, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Ilya most popular?

Ilya peaked in 2018, when 65 newborns received the name.

Is Ilya a boy or girl name?

Ilya is used for both: about 21% of babies named Ilya have been girls and 79% boys.

Is the name Ilya rising or falling?

Ilya has been roughly stable over the past decade.

Will Ilya become more popular?

Ilya is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 35 boys named Ilya in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Ilya?

Well-known people named Ilya include Ilya Repin (painter), Ilya Kovalchuk (hockey player), Ilya Ehrenburg (writer).

Names like Ilya

Names that sound and feel close to Ilya: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Ilya with similar names → More names starting with I →