Cheick
A West African personal name of possible Bambara origin meaning "man of peace".
Name Census estimates that about 193 living Americans carry the first name Cheick. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cheick today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheick births was 2014 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheick. 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
193
~ 1 in 1,775,929 Americans
Peak year
2014
13 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,625
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Cheick: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheick from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 79 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cheick remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cheick 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 Cheick during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cheicks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cheick
The name Cheick has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "Shaykh," which means an elder, chief, or leader. This name was commonly used in the Arab world and Islamic societies from the 7th century onwards.
The name Cheick can be traced back to the early Islamic era, where it was often given to respected elders, scholars, and religious leaders. It has been mentioned in various historical texts and records from that time period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cheick is found in the writings of the renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher, Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE), who referred to several individuals with this title.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Cheick. One of the most famous was Cheick Anta Diop (1923-1986), a Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and scholar who made significant contributions to the study of African history and culture.
Another prominent figure was Cheick Ahmed Tidiane Cherif (1909-1998), a Senegalese religious leader and the founder of the Tidjaniya Sufi order in West Africa.
In the realm of literature, Cheick Modibo Diarra (1933-2023) was a renowned Malian author and playwright, known for his works that explored themes of tradition, modernity, and cultural identity.
The name Cheick has also been associated with political leaders, such as Cheick Anta Mbacké Diop (1929-2009), a former Prime Minister of Senegal, and Cheick Mamadou Aboulaye Diallo (1969-present), a Guinean politician and diplomat.
Cheick Oumar Sissoko (1945-1962) was a prominent figure in the Malian struggle for independence, who was executed at a young age for his activism against French colonial rule.
People
Cheick + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheick as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cheick: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheick?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 193 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheick 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 1,775,929 US residents.
Is Cheick a common name?
We classify Cheick as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 195 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheick most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheick was 2014, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheick is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cheick a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cheick in the SSA data are male. 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.