[1] In Hebrew, aliyah means "ascent," "rising," or "going up."
[2][3] The word is often used to refer to the calling of a member of a Jewish congregation up to the bimah for a segment of the formal Torah reading.
[4] It may also refer to the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to the geographical Land of Israel (i.e. "making aliyah").
In Arabic, aliyah (more commonly transliterated as aaliyah) is derived from the verb “alah,” which means “to ascend” or “to go up.” As a given name, it is the feminine form of Aali,[5] meaning “high” or “exalted.” Aaliyah is also associated with Aliya bint Ali, one of the 17 daughters of Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam.
[6] Variations of the name, including Alia, Aliya, Aleah, and Alya, can be found across cultures.