Makiah
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly drawn from the Yoruba language.
Name Census estimates that about 2,687 living Americans carry the first name Makiah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Makiah today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makiah births was 2007 (191 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makiah. 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.
Key insights
- • Makiah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 127,560 Americans
Peak year
2007
191 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,935
Tracked since 1991
Census
Makiah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,962 people with the first name Makiah, which placed it at #7,677 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
#7,677
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,962 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
42.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Makiah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makiah is Black at 42.3%. The next largest groups are White (32.8%) and Two or More Races (14.9%). 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 Makiah 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 Makiah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American42.3% · 829
- White32.8% · 644
- Two or more races14.9% · 293
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 139
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Makiah
Makiah leans heavily female at 81.7% of total registrations, but 498 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Makiah as a male name
- Ranked #3,935 in 2024
- 28 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (28 births)
Makiah as a female name
- Ranked #4,961 in 2024
- 27 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (170 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makiah leans strongly female. 1,623 people counted with this name were female (82.5%), compared with 345 male bearers (17.5%).
Popularity
Makiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makiah 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 1,422 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
Makiah 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 Makiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makiahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. Ohio, Michigan, Texas recorded the most babies named Makiah, while Mississippi, Kentucky, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Makiah
The name Makiah is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with roots dating back to the early medieval period. The name is derived from the Arabic word "makiya," which means "pure" or "innocent." It is thought to have gained popularity in the Middle East and North Africa during the 7th and 8th centuries CE, shortly after the rise of Islam.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Makiah can be found in a collection of Islamic literature from the 9th century CE. The name is mentioned in a poem dedicated to a young woman named Makiah, praising her beauty and virtue. This suggests that the name was in use among Arabs during that time period.
As the Islamic empire expanded, the name Makiah likely spread to various regions, including parts of Europe and Asia. However, it remained relatively uncommon outside of the Arab world for several centuries.
The first recorded instance of the name Makiah in Europe dates back to the 12th century CE, when a Spanish girl was given the name. This suggests that the name had made its way to the Iberian Peninsula, possibly through the influence of the Moors, who ruled parts of Spain and Portugal during that time.
In the 15th century, a notable figure named Makiah ibn al-Hakim was a renowned scholar and philosopher in the Ottoman Empire. He wrote extensively on topics such as mathematics, astronomy, and theology.
During the 16th century, a woman named Makiah al-Andalusi gained recognition as a skilled poet and calligrapher in the city of Granada, which was then under the rule of the Nasrid dynasty.
In the 17th century, a Turkish woman named Makiah Hatun was known for her exceptional skill in embroidery and textile design, and her works were highly sought after by the Ottoman elite.
The 19th century saw the birth of Makiah al-Khalili, a Syrian writer and activist who advocated for women's rights and education in the Middle East. She published several works that challenged traditional gender roles and called for greater opportunities for women.
Despite these historical examples, the name Makiah remained relatively uncommon outside of the Arab world until more recent times. Its usage has become more widespread in various cultures and communities, possibly due to its unique sound and meaning.
People
Makiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makiah 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
Makiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,687 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makiah 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 127,560 US residents.
Is Makiah a common name?
We classify Makiah as "Rare". It ranks above 94.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,722 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Makiah was 2007, when 191 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makiah is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Makiah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,962 people with the name Makiah, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,677 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 Makiah 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 Makiah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makiah leans strongly female. 1,623 people counted with this name were female (82.5%), compared with 345 male bearers (17.5%). 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 Makiah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makiah is Black at 42.3%. The next largest groups are White (32.8%) and Two or More Races (14.9%). 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 Makiah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Makiah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.3% (829 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 Makiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makiah a female name?
Yes, 81.7% of people registered as Makiah 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 Makiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makiah 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 Makiah 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 share the name Makiah?
Find out how many Americans are named Makiah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.