Ashaki
A feminine name of Yoruba origin meaning "firstborn child".
Name Census estimates that about 232 living Americans carry the first name Ashaki. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ashaki today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashaki births was 1972 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashaki. 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
232
~ 1 in 1,477,389 Americans
Peak year
1972
31 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1998 SSA rank
#11,251
Tracked since 1971
Census
Ashaki in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 284 people with the first name Ashaki, which placed it at #30,583 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
#30,583
National first-name rank
People counted
284
284 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ashaki
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashaki is Black at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Ashaki 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 Ashaki at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.5% · 260
- Two or more races3.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 6
- White1.4% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 4
Popularity
Ashaki: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashaki from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 172 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Ashaki remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ashaki 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 Ashaki during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ashakis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ashaki
The name Ashaki has its origins in the Yoruba language, spoken by people native to southwestern Nigeria and parts of Benin. The name can be traced back to the 14th century and is derived from the Yoruba words "asha" meaning "hawk" and "ki" meaning "born" or "of." Thus, the name Ashaki can be interpreted as "born of a hawk" or "hawk child."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ashaki is found in the Odu Ifa, a sacred text of the Yoruba people. This text, which dates back to the 15th century, mentions an individual named Ashaki who was known for their wisdom and spiritual guidance.
In the 17th century, there was a famous Yoruba warrior named Ashaki Adesina who fought against the expansionist efforts of the Oyo Empire. Adesina's bravery and leadership during this conflict earned him widespread recognition and respect among the Yoruba people.
Another notable figure with the name Ashaki was a 19th-century Yoruba artist and sculptor named Ashaki Ogunlana. Ogunlana's works, which often depicted scenes from Yoruba mythology and religious practices, are celebrated for their intricate details and cultural significance.
In the early 20th century, Ashaki Adeyemi was a prominent Yoruba educator and advocate for women's education. Adeyemi founded several schools in southwestern Nigeria and played a crucial role in promoting literacy and empowerment for women in the region.
More recently, Ashaki Ogunbayo was a Yoruba musician and composer who lived from 1928 to 2010. Ogunbayo's compositions, which blended traditional Yoruba music with modern elements, helped to popularize and preserve the rich musical heritage of the Yoruba people.
People
Ashaki + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashaki 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
Ashaki: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashaki?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 232 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashaki 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 1,477,389 US residents.
Is Ashaki a common name?
We classify Ashaki as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 252 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashaki most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashaki was 1972, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashaki is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ashaki in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 284 people with the name Ashaki, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,583 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 Ashaki 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 Ashaki?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ashaki leans strongly female. 259 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 18 male bearers (6.5%). 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 Ashaki?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashaki is Black at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Ashaki most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ashaki in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.5% (260 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 Ashaki in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ashaki a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ashaki 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 Ashaki still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ashaki 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 Ashaki 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 common is the name Ashaki?
See how many people share the name Ashaki on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.