Makiya
Feminine Arabic name derived from "makkah" referencing the holy city of Mecca.
Name Census estimates that about 2,990 living Americans carry the first name Makiya. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Makiya today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makiya births was 2004 (206 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makiya. 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
3.0K
~ 1 in 114,634 Americans
Peak year
2004
206 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2005 SSA rank
#4,962
Tracked since 1988
Census
Makiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,261 people with the first name Makiya, which placed it at #6,924 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
#6,924
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,261 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
72.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Makiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makiya is Black at 72.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.3%) and Two or More Races (9.7%). 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 Makiya 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 Makiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American72.3% · 1,634
- White12.3% · 277
- Two or more races9.7% · 220
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 99
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Makiya
Out of the 3,031 babies given the name Makiya since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Makiya as a male name
- Ranked #10,975 in 2005
- 6 male births in 2005
- Peak: 2002 (8 births)
Makiya as a female name
- Ranked #4,962 in 2024
- 27 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (206 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makiya leans strongly female. 2,233 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 30 male bearers (1.3%).
Popularity
Makiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makiya from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,751 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
Makiya 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 Makiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makiyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois recorded the most babies named Makiya, while Utah, Washington, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 75 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Makiya
The name Makiya is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, and it is thought to have been derived from the word "makiyah," which means "intelligent" or "wise." The name has its roots in the Middle Eastern region, particularly in countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt.
One of the earliest known references to the name Makiya can be found in ancient Arabic literature, where it was used to describe individuals who were known for their wisdom and intelligence. The name gained popularity during the medieval period, particularly among scholars and intellectuals in the Islamic world.
The first recorded example of the name Makiya dates back to the 9th century, when a renowned scholar and philosopher named Makiya ibn Yahya al-Ishbili lived in the city of Seville, which was then a part of the Umayyad Caliphate. Al-Ishbili was known for his contributions to various fields, including philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Makiya. One of the most famous was Makiya al-Muqaddasi, an Arab geographer and traveler who lived in the 10th century. Al-Muqaddasi is known for his work titled "Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim," which is considered one of the earliest and most comprehensive works on geography and travel in the Islamic world.
Another notable figure with the name Makiya was Makiya al-Arsufi, a renowned mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 12th century. Al-Arsufi made significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the areas of algebra and trigonometry.
In the 13th century, Makiya ibn Abi Talib al-Harrani was a prominent philosopher and scholar who wrote extensively on topics such as logic, metaphysics, and ethics. His works were widely studied and influenced many subsequent thinkers in the Islamic world.
During the 14th century, Makiya al-Qurashi was a respected Islamic scholar and jurist who made significant contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). He is particularly known for his work on the Maliki school of thought, which is one of the four major Sunni Islamic legal traditions.
Makiya al-Andalusi, who lived in the 15th century, was a renowned poet and writer from the Andalusian region of Spain. His poems and literary works were widely celebrated for their beauty and eloquence, and he is considered one of the most influential figures in the literature of the Islamic Golden Age.
People
Makiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makiya 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
Makiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,990 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makiya 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 114,634 US residents.
Is Makiya a common name?
We classify Makiya as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,031 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Makiya was 2004, when 206 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makiya 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 Makiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,261 people with the name Makiya, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,924 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 Makiya 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 Makiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makiya leans strongly female. 2,233 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 30 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Makiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makiya is Black at 72.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.3%) and Two or More Races (9.7%). 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 Makiya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Makiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.3% (1,634 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 Makiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makiya a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Makiya 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 Makiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makiya 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 Makiya 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 common is the name Makiya?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.