Akera
A feminine name of Yoruba origin meaning "inner grace".
Name Census estimates that about 252 living Americans carry the first name Akera. It is a predominantly female name (98.1% of registrations). The average person named Akera today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Akera births was 2008 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Akera. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
252
~ 1 in 1,360,136 Americans
Peak year
2008
22 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
1983 SSA rank
#6,258
Tracked since 1982
Census
Akera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 269 people with the first name Akera, which placed it at #31,704 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#31,704
National first-name rank
People counted
269
269 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Akera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akera is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.3%) and White (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Akera described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Akera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.1% · 229
- Two or more races6.3% · 17
- White4.1% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Akera
Akera leans heavily female at 98.1% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Akera as a male name
- Ranked #6,258 in 1983
- 5 male births in 1983
- Peak: 1983 (5 births)
Akera as a female name
- Ranked #16,521 in 2015
- 5 female births in 2015
- Peak: 2008 (22 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Akera leans strongly female. 258 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 12 male bearers (4.4%).
Popularity
Akera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Akera from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 122 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Akera remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Akera by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Akera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Akera
The name Akera is believed to have originated from the Swahili language spoken in East Africa, particularly in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is thought to be derived from the Swahili word "akera," which means "abundance" or "prosperity."
In ancient times, the name Akera was often given to children as a way of expressing hope and aspirations for their future. It was believed that bestowing a name with such a positive meaning would bring blessings and good fortune to the child.
Historical records indicate that the name Akera has been in use for centuries among various ethnic groups in East Africa. It is mentioned in some ancient Swahili texts and oral traditions, although the specific details of its earliest appearances are somewhat obscure.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Akera was a 12th-century Swahili merchant and explorer who traveled extensively along the East African coast and established trade routes with the Arabian Peninsula and India. Unfortunately, his full name and exact dates of birth and death are not known with certainty.
In the 15th century, there was a prominent Swahili queen named Akera who ruled over the island of Pate, located off the coast of present-day Kenya. She was known for her diplomatic skills and efforts to maintain peace and prosperity within her kingdom.
Another notable figure was Akera bin Juma, a 17th-century Swahili scholar and poet from the island of Lamu, Kenya. He was renowned for his literary works and contributions to the preservation of Swahili culture and language.
In the 19th century, Akera Mshamba was a respected Swahili chief and landowner in the coastal region of Tanzania. He played a significant role in negotiating treaties and maintaining positive relations with European explorers and traders during the era of colonial expansion.
More recently, in the 20th century, Akera Mwangi was a Kenyan writer and activist who used her literary works to address issues of social justice, women's rights, and cultural preservation. She was recognized for her efforts to promote education and empowerment within her community.
While the name Akera may not be as common today as it once was, it continues to hold a special significance within the Swahili culture and serves as a reminder of the rich history and traditions of East Africa.
People
Akera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Akera as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Akera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Akera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 252 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Akera going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,360,136 US residents.
Is Akera a common name?
We classify Akera as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 258 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Akera most popular?
The single biggest year for Akera was 2008, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Akera is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Akera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 269 people with the name Akera, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,704 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Akera in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Akera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Akera leans strongly female. 258 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 12 male bearers (4.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Akera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akera is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.3%) and White (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Akera most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Akera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (229 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Akera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Akera a female name?
Yes, 98.1% of people registered as Akera in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Akera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Akera in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Akera can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Akera?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.