Anneka
A feminine given name of German origin meaning "gracious" or "merciful".
Name Census estimates that about 810 living Americans carry the first name Anneka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anneka today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anneka births was 2006 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anneka. 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
810
~ 1 in 423,154 Americans
Peak year
2006
41 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,621
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Anneka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anneka from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 293 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anneka 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 Anneka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Annekas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Anneka
The name Anneka has its roots in the Germanic language family, specifically stemming from the Old Norse name Annika. The name was popular during the Viking era in Scandinavia and derived from the combination of the elements "ann" meaning grace and "rik" meaning ruler or powerful. This suggests the name was originally intended to convey the notion of a graceful and powerful individual.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Anneka date back to the 9th century, where it was found in ancient Norse sagas and chronicles. One notable historical figure bearing this name was Anneka Sverresdóttir, a Norwegian princess born in the late 12th century, who was the daughter of King Sverre Sigurdsson.
During the Middle Ages, the name spread to other Germanic regions, including Germany and the Netherlands, where it was spelled as "Annika" or "Anneke". In the 16th century, a Dutch woman named Anneke Jans Bogardus, born around 1605, became one of the first female settlers in New Amsterdam, which later became New York City.
In the 19th century, the name gained popularity in England and Scotland, where it was sometimes spelled as "Anneka". One prominent bearer of this name was Anneka Yeadow, a Scottish painter and illustrator born in 1867, who was known for her depictions of rural life and landscapes.
Another notable figure was Anneka Rice, a British television presenter and broadcaster born in 1958, who hosted popular adventure game shows like "Treasure Hunt" and "Challenge Anneka" in the 1980s and 1990s.
Anneka Vavić, born in 1958, was a Serbian-American actress and model, best known for her role in the 1980s television series "Falcon Crest".
People
Anneka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anneka 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
Anneka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anneka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 810 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anneka 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 423,154 US residents.
Is Anneka a common name?
We classify Anneka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 840 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anneka most popular?
The single biggest year for Anneka was 2006, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anneka is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Anneka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anneka 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.
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.