Many are of Hispanic and Caribbean descent but as the religion moves out of the inner cities and into the suburbs, a growing number are of African-American and European-American heritage. Of those living in the US, some are fully committed priests and priestesses, others are 'godchildren' or members of a particular house-tradition, and many are clients seeking help with their everyday problems. In 2001, there were an estimated 22,000 practitioners in the US alone, but the number may be higher as some practitioners may be reluctant to disclose their religion on a government census or to an academic researcher. In Cuba, this religious tradition has evolved into what we now recognize as Santería. These slaves carried with them various religious traditions, including a trance for communicating with their ancestors and deities, animal sacrifice and sacred drumming.

It is a system of beliefs that merge the Yoruba religion (brought to the New World by slaves imported to the Caribbean to work the sugar plantations) with Roman Catholic and Native American traditions. These are the most common Orisha names, especially in Cuba. The most well known Orishas are Eleggua, Oggún, Oshún, Changó, Oyá, Obatalá, Yemaya and Orula. But the regional practices may have contributed to Cuba's restriction of women in Ifa priesthood, perhaps due to the practices and theological opinions of one group overruling that of another within Yorubaland. There is some regional variation to acceptance of women being initiated to Ifa even in Nigeria, while it is more common than not for women to be accepted in those areas. There is even West African evidence as well as in Brazil that women in Ifa priesthood, albeit small, may have existed for a number of centuries, especially since some religious houses of the Candomble tradition were founded by iyanifa. However, since Santeria developed outside its West African origin and acquired various influences of Catholicism, Congolese religion, spiritism and Dahomean influences, the opinions of other side (West African or Cuban) have little relevance for either tradition. Instead, women are initiates as Apetebi Ifa and are considered senior in Ifa to all but fully initiated Babalawos. In the recent years, there have been initiations of Iyanifa or 'Mother of Destiny,' but their role as Ifa diviners is not generally accepted per the Odu Ifa Irete Intelu which states women cannot be in the presence of Olofin or Igba Iwa Odu and so cannot be initiated as divining priestesses. Ifa Priests are known by their titles such as Babalawo or 'Father Who Knows the Secrets'.

Ifa Priests receive Orunmila who is the Orisha of Prophecy, Wisdom and all Knowledge. The highest level of achievement is to become a priest of Ifá (ee-fah). The Babalorishas and Iyalorishas are referred to as Santeros and Santeras, and if they function as diviners of the Orishas they can be considered Oriates. The priests are known as babalorishas, 'fathers of orisha', and priestesses as iyalorishas, 'mothers of orisha', and serve as the junior Ile or second in the hierarchical religious structure. The word 'santería', often used by colonial Europeans to describe the religion of Africans whose origins are Yoruba (present-day Nigeria and its surrounding environments), can be loosely translated from Spanish as 'way of the saints'.

Italian explain ifa odus