Ikea
A Scandinavian name possibly derived from a Swedish dialect term meaning "path" or "trail".
Name Census estimates that about 566 living Americans carry the first name Ikea. It is a predominantly female name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Ikea today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ikea births was 1989 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ikea. 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
566
~ 1 in 605,573 Americans
Peak year
1989
81 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
1989 SSA rank
#5,337
Tracked since 1985
Census
Ikea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 499 people with the first name Ikea, which placed it at #20,625 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
#20,625
National first-name rank
People counted
499
499 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ikea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ikea is Black at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Ikea 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 Ikea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.2% · 445
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 24
- Two or more races3.2% · 16
- White1.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Ikea
Ikea leans heavily female at 98.5% of total registrations, but 9 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ikea as a male name
- Ranked #5,337 in 1989
- 9 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (9 births)
Ikea as a female name
- Ranked #17,858 in 2012
- 5 female births in 2012
- Peak: 1989 (72 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ikea leans strongly female. 478 people counted with this name were female (95.2%), compared with 24 male bearers (4.8%).
Popularity
Ikea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ikea from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 321 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ikea 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 Ikea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ikeas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia recorded the most babies named Ikea, while Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ikea
The name Ikea is a relatively modern name that gained widespread recognition in the 20th century. It is believed to have originated from the Swedish town of Älmhult, where the company IKEA was founded in 1943. The name is an acronym, formed from the initials of the founder, Ingvar Kamprad, and the first letters of the words "Elmtaryd" and "Agunnaryd," which were the farm and village where Kamprad grew up.
While the name Ikea itself does not have any ancient or historical roots, it has become synonymous with the global furniture and home goods company that bears its name. The IKEA company has played a significant role in popularizing affordable, ready-to-assemble furniture worldwide, and its name has become a household word in many countries.
In terms of notable individuals with the name Ikea, there are very few recorded instances. Since the name is primarily associated with the furniture brand, it is rarely used as a given name for individuals. However, a few celebrities have embraced the name as a unique moniker.
One person who famously adopted the name Ikea was the American rapper and producer Ikea Jones. Born Jonathan Jones in 1979, he chose the stage name Ikea as a nod to the popular furniture brand and as a way to stand out in the music industry.
Another individual who briefly went by the name Ikea was the British pop star formerly known as Natalie Imbruglia. In 2019, she announced that she would be using the name Ikea for a short period as a publicity stunt, although she later reverted to her given name.
Additionally, there have been a few instances of parents naming their children Ikea, likely inspired by the brand's popularity and recognizable name. One such example is a child born in California in the early 2000s, whose parents claimed to have named him Ikea as a tribute to the furniture store where they first met.
Overall, while the name Ikea does not have a rich historical or cultural background, it has become a recognizable and sometimes controversial name in modern times due to its association with the global furniture company. Its use as a given name remains relatively rare, but it has been embraced by a few individuals seeking a unique and attention-grabbing moniker.
People
Ikea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ikea as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ikea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ikea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 566 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ikea 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 605,573 US residents.
Is Ikea a common name?
We classify Ikea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 589 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ikea most popular?
The single biggest year for Ikea was 1989, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ikea is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ikea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 499 people with the name Ikea, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,625 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 Ikea 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 Ikea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ikea leans strongly female. 478 people counted with this name were female (95.2%), compared with 24 male bearers (4.8%). 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 Ikea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ikea is Black at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Ikea most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ikea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (445 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 Ikea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ikea a female name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Ikea 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 Ikea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ikea 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 Ikea 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 the name Ikea?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.