embrisa.
embrisa.
Theme
Feminine

Alaia

/əˈlaɪ.ə/

Joyful, or 'noble'

BasqueArabic

How to say it

a · LAI · a

/əˈlaɪ.ə/

What it means

Two roots converged: Basque alai ('joyful, happy') and Arabic Aaliyah ('noble, exalted'). Azzedine Alaïa the Tunisian-French fashion designer is the dominant 20th-century cultural anchor through the surname.

Alaia has two roots that converged in modern US use. The Basque alai means 'joyful' or 'happy.' The Arabic Aaliyah means 'noble' or 'exalted' (the feminine of Ali). Azzedine Alaïa (1935-2017), the Tunisian-French fashion designer known as the King of Cling, gave the name its dominant 20th-century cultural presence through the surname. Beyoncé and Jay-Z named their twin daughter Rumi but the Carter family's earlier nod to designer Alaïa kept the name in celebrity-baby orbit. Sarah Michelle Gellar named her daughter Charlotte Grace, and Ricky Martin's daughter is Lucia, but Alaia surged with the broader vintage-modern wave. It entered the US top 500 in 2017. Common short: Lai or Ala.

Popularity over time

#10 #100 #1000 #1 #1447318802025

peaked at #112 in 2024, currently #117 in 2025.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving

Heads-up notes

  • Pronunciation

    ah-LIE-ah, three syllables, stress on the second. The 'ai' is one dipthong (rhymes with 'eye'), not two separate vowels.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

  • Azzedine Alaïa Tunisian-French fashion designer, 1935-2017 (surname)

Spelling variants

  • Alaiya
  • Alaya
  • Alayah