Chekesha
An uncommon feminine name of African origin meaning "smile" or "laughter".
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Chekesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chekesha today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chekesha births was 1974 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chekesha. 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
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
1974
28 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1982 SSA rank
#8,375
Tracked since 1972
Census
Chekesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 130 people with the first name Chekesha, which placed it at #48,722 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
#48,722
National first-name rank
People counted
130
130 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chekesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chekesha is Black at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.2%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Chekesha 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 Chekesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.0% · 117
- Two or more races6.2% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 5
Popularity
Chekesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chekesha from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 138 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chekesha 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 Chekesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chekeshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Chekesha, while New York, New Jersey, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chekesha
The name Chekesha has its origins in the Kiganda language, spoken by the Baganda people of Uganda in East Africa. It is believed to have first come into use in the late 15th or early 16th century during the reign of the Buganda Kingdom.
Chekesha is derived from the Kiganda root word "kesha," which means "to laugh" or "to be joyful." As such, the name is thought to have been given to children with the hope that they would bring joy and laughter to their families and communities.
While the name does not appear to be recorded in any ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been documented in various historical records and accounts of the Buganda Kingdom and its people.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Chekesha was a prominent Buganda chief who lived in the mid-17th century. He was known for his wit and humor, as well as his loyalty to the Kabaka (king) of the time.
Another notable figure named Chekesha was a renowned storyteller and performer in the late 18th century. She was celebrated for her ability to captivate audiences with her tales, which often incorporated elements of comedy and satire.
In more recent history, Chekesha Lekedi was a respected educator and activist from Uganda who worked tirelessly to promote women's rights and access to education in the early 20th century. She was born in 1892 and passed away in 1968.
During the same period, Chekesha Mukasa was a prominent artist and sculptor from the Buganda region. His intricate wood carvings and sculptures depicting traditional Baganda life and culture were widely acclaimed and can still be found in museums and galleries around the world. He lived from 1898 to 1976.
Finally, Chekesha Nantongo was a celebrated Ugandan dancer and choreographer in the latter half of the 20th century. She played a pivotal role in preserving and popularizing traditional Baganda dance forms, and her performances were widely celebrated both in Uganda and internationally. She was born in 1932 and passed away in 2010.
People
Chekesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chekesha 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
Chekesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chekesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chekesha 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 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Chekesha a common name?
We classify Chekesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 151 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chekesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Chekesha was 1974, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chekesha is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chekesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 130 people with the name Chekesha, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,722 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 Chekesha 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 Chekesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chekesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 135 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Chekesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chekesha is Black at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.2%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Chekesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chekesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.0% (117 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 Chekesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chekesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chekesha 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 Chekesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chekesha 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 Chekesha 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 are called Chekesha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.