Akyla
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "brilliant" or "intelligent".
Name Census estimates that about 266 living Americans carry the first name Akyla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Akyla today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Akyla births was 2008 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Akyla. 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
266
~ 1 in 1,288,550 Americans
Peak year
2008
26 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,278
Tracked since 1999
Census
Akyla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 214 people with the first name Akyla, which placed it at #36,840 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
#36,840
National first-name rank
People counted
214
214 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
70.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Akyla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akyla is Black at 70.6%. The next largest groups are White (9.8%) and Two or More Races (9.8%). 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 Akyla 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 Akyla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.6% · 151
- White9.8% · 21
- Two or more races9.8% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Akyla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Akyla from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 126 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Akyla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Akyla 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 Akyla 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 Akyla
The name Akyla is a relatively rare and obscure name with uncertain origins. It is believed to have originated in ancient Mesopotamia, possibly derived from the Akkadian language or other ancient Semitic languages spoken in the region.
One theory suggests that Akyla may be related to the Akkadian word "akalu," which means "to eat" or "to consume." This could indicate that the name might have been associated with fertility, abundance, or nourishment in ancient Mesopotamian culture.
Another possibility is that Akyla is a variation or adaptation of the name Akila, which has Arabic roots and means "intelligent" or "wise." However, there is little historical evidence to confirm this connection definitively.
In terms of historical references, the name Akyla is not widely documented in ancient texts or religious scriptures. There are no known instances of the name appearing in significant historical records from ancient civilizations.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Akyla are relatively modern and sparse. One notable individual with this name was Akyla Sarvadhi, an Indian mystic and spiritual teacher who lived in the 19th century. Sarvadhi was known for her teachings on self-realization and inner awakening.
Another individual named Akyla was Akyla Venkatraman, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who lived from 1923 to 2004. She was renowned for her contributions to the Bharatanatyam dance form and for preserving and promoting traditional Indian dance.
In the realm of literature, Akyla Doyle was a French novelist and poet who lived in the early 20th century. She was known for her poetic works that explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
Akyla Oshiro was a Japanese artist and calligrapher who lived from 1920 to 2002. She was celebrated for her innovative approach to traditional Japanese calligraphy and her ability to infuse it with modern sensibilities.
Lastly, Akyla Idriss was a Syrian activist and human rights advocate who campaigned for women's rights and social justice in the Middle East during the late 20th century.
While the name Akyla has a rich and diverse history spanning different cultures and eras, its origins and meaning remain shrouded in uncertainty, adding to its mystique and intrigue.
People
Akyla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Akyla 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
Akyla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Akyla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 266 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Akyla 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 1,288,550 US residents.
Is Akyla a common name?
We classify Akyla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Akyla most popular?
The single biggest year for Akyla was 2008, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Akyla is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Akyla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 214 people with the name Akyla, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,840 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 Akyla 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 Akyla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Akyla appears almost entirely female. Of the 214 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Akyla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akyla is Black at 70.6%. The next largest groups are White (9.8%) and Two or More Races (9.8%). 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 Akyla most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Akyla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (151 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 Akyla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Akyla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Akyla 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 Akyla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Akyla 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 Akyla 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 have Akyla as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.