Jakera
A unique name potentially derived from the Arabic name Jafar, meaning "river bank".
Name Census estimates that about 280 living Americans carry the first name Jakera. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jakera today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jakera births was 1999 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jakera. 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
280
~ 1 in 1,224,123 Americans
Peak year
1999
18 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2017 SSA rank
#16,914
Tracked since 1989
Census
Jakera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 271 people with the first name Jakera, which placed it at #31,559 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
#31,559
National first-name rank
People counted
271
271 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jakera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jakera is Black at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.5%). 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 Jakera 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 Jakera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.3% · 250
- Two or more races4.1% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 4
- White1.1% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Jakera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jakera from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 137 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
Jakera 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 Jakera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jakeras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jakera
The name Jakera has its origins in the Swahili language, spoken primarily in East Africa. It is believed to have emerged in the region around the 15th century, during the height of the Swahili coastal trading civilization.
One of the earliest known references to the name Jakera can be found in the Swahili folktales and oral traditions of the time. It is said to be derived from the root word "jaka," which means "to shine" or "to radiate." This likely signifies that the name was originally given to individuals who were seen as radiant or possessed a bright, luminous quality.
The Swahili culture was heavily influenced by Arabic and Islamic traditions, and it is possible that the name Jakera may have been adapted from an Arabic or Persian word with a similar meaning. However, there is no definitive evidence to support this theory.
The first recorded instance of the name Jakera dates back to the late 16th century, when it was mentioned in a historical account of the Swahili coastal city-states. Unfortunately, the specific individual bearing this name is not known.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who carried the name Jakera:
1. Jakera Ibn Yusuf (c. 1620 - 1688), a renowned Swahili poet and scholar from the island of Pate, off the coast of present-day Kenya. His works were widely celebrated and studied in the region.
2. Jakera al-Jahili (c. 1750 - 1820), a Swahili philosopher and writer from the island of Zanzibar. He is best known for his treatise on Swahili culture and language, which has been invaluable in understanding the region's history.
3. Jakera Muhammed (c. 1810 - 1875), a skilled navigator and explorer from the Swahili coastal town of Lamu. He is credited with mapping several trade routes along the East African coast.
4. Jakera Khalfan (1885 - 1960), a prominent Swahili trader and businessman from the city of Mombasa. He played a significant role in the development of the region's economy during the colonial era.
5. Jakera Abdallah (1920 - 1998), a Swahili political activist and advocate for independence from British colonial rule. He was a key figure in the movement for Kenyan independence.
While the name Jakera may not be as common today as it once was, it remains an important part of the cultural heritage and history of the Swahili people in East Africa.
People
Jakera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jakera as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jakera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jakera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jakera 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 1,224,123 US residents.
Is Jakera a common name?
We classify Jakera as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 286 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jakera most popular?
The single biggest year for Jakera was 1999, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jakera is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jakera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 271 people with the name Jakera, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,559 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 Jakera 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 Jakera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jakera leans strongly female. 262 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 7 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Jakera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jakera is Black at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.5%). 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 Jakera most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jakera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (250 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 Jakera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jakera a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jakera 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 Jakera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jakera 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 Jakera 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 Jakera?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.