Makeda
A feminine name of Ethiopian origin meaning "Queen of Sheba".
Name Census estimates that about 1,687 living Americans carry the first name Makeda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Makeda today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makeda births was 1985 (85 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makeda. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Makeda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 203,174 Americans
Peak year
1985
85 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,880
Tracked since 1968
Census
Makeda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,561 people with the first name Makeda, which placed it at #9,070 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
#9,070
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,561 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Makeda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makeda is Black at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.6%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Makeda 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 Makeda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.2% · 1,314
- Two or more races6.6% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 68
- White3.9% · 61
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
Popularity
Makeda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makeda from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 432 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
Makeda 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 Makeda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makedas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Makeda, while Washington, Illinois, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 59 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Makeda
The name Makeda has its origins in the ancient Semitic languages of the Horn of Africa region, particularly in the languages spoken in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is believed to be derived from the root word "mkd," which means "to burn" or "to be great."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Makeda is in the Kebra Nagast, a 14th-century Ethiopic text that recounts the story of the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon. In this text, the Queen of Sheba is referred to as Makeda, and her encounter with Solomon is depicted as a pivotal event in the founding of the Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia.
Historically, the name Makeda has been associated with several notable figures. One of the most famous is the legendary Queen of Sheba herself, who is believed to have reigned over the ancient kingdom of Sheba in what is now Yemen or Ethiopia, around the 10th century BCE. Her visit to King Solomon's court in Jerusalem is described in various religious texts, including the Bible and the Quran.
Another prominent figure associated with the name Makeda is Makeda, the Queen of Ethiopia who ruled during the late 10th century CE. She is credited with expanding the influence of the Aksumite Empire and promoting the spread of Christianity within her realm.
In the 16th century, Makeda was the name of a daughter of the Ethiopian Emperor Lebna Dengel, who ruled from 1508 to 1540. She played a significant role in the court politics of her time and was known for her intelligence and diplomatic skills.
In more recent history, Makeda Qemwoyizeru Tafari (1915-1975) was an Ethiopian princess and the daughter of Emperor Haile Selassie. She was actively involved in various charitable and educational initiatives in Ethiopia and served as a representative of her country on the international stage.
Another notable figure named Makeda is Makeda Breed (born 1958), an American actress and writer known for her roles in films such as "The Brothers" and "Soul Food." She has also worked as a producer and director, contributing to projects that explore African American culture and experiences.
People
Makeda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makeda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Makeda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makeda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,687 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makeda 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 203,174 US residents.
Is Makeda a common name?
We classify Makeda as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,752 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makeda most popular?
The single biggest year for Makeda was 1985, when 85 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makeda is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Makeda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,561 people with the name Makeda, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,070 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 Makeda 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 Makeda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makeda appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,564 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Makeda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makeda is Black at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.6%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Makeda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Makeda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (1,314 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 Makeda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makeda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Makeda 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 Makeda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makeda 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 Makeda 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 Makeda as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Makeda, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.