Makennah
Life's gift bestowed by God or precious gift from the Lord.
Name Census estimates that about 689 living Americans carry the first name Makennah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Makennah today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makennah births was 2007 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makennah. 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
689
~ 1 in 497,466 Americans
Peak year
2007
51 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,805
Tracked since 1995
Census
Makennah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 569 people with the first name Makennah, which placed it at #18,829 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
#18,829
National first-name rank
People counted
569
569 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Makennah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makennah is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.6%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Makennah 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 Makennah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.8% · 437
- Two or more races8.6% · 49
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 37
- Black or African American5.8% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 4
Popularity
Makennah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makennah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 318 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
Makennah 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 Makennah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makennahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, California recorded the most babies named Makennah, while Missouri, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Makennah
The name Makennah is a relatively modern variation of the Scottish name Makenna, which itself is a feminine form of the name Mackenzie. The name Mackenzie is derived from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning "son" and "cuinn" meaning "fair" or "born of fire." This suggests that the name Makennah may have its origins in the Scottish Highlands, where Gaelic language and culture were prominent.
The earliest recorded use of the name Makenna can be traced back to the late 19th century in Scotland. It is believed to have been a feminized version of the surname Mackenzie, which was originally a clan name in the Scottish Highlands. The name Makennah, with its unique spelling variation, is a more recent development, likely arising in the late 20th or early 21st century as parents sought unique and distinctive names for their daughters.
While the name Makennah does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its Scottish roots and connection to the Mackenzie clan suggest a rich cultural heritage. One notable historical figure who bore the name Mackenzie was Sibyl Mackenzie (1773-1847), a Scottish author and educator who published several works on moral and religious education for children.
Another historical figure with a variation of the name was Mackenna Roberts (1872-1957), an American politician and lawyer who served as the 22nd Governor of Indiana from 1921 to 1925. Additionally, Mackenna's Battalion, a unit of Mexican-American soldiers who fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), was named after their commander, Captain Benjamin D. Mackenna.
In more recent times, Makenna Newkirk (born 1999) is an American actress known for her role in the television series "The Astronauts." Makenna Gott (born 2006) is a Canadian child actress who has appeared in various television shows and films.
It is worth noting that while the name Makennah may have Scottish roots, its modern popularity and unique spelling variation have given it a more global appeal, transcending its cultural origins.
People
Makennah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makennah 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
Makennah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makennah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 689 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makennah 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 497,466 US residents.
Is Makennah a common name?
We classify Makennah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 698 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makennah most popular?
The single biggest year for Makennah was 2007, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makennah is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Makennah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 569 people with the name Makennah, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,829 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 Makennah 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 Makennah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makennah appears almost entirely female. Of the 569 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Makennah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makennah is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.6%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Makennah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Makennah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.8% (437 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 Makennah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makennah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Makennah 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 Makennah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makennah 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 Makennah 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 Americans are named Makennah?
You can see how many Americans are named Makennah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.