Makiyah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "to have been wise".
Name Census estimates that about 3,473 living Americans carry the first name Makiyah. It is a predominantly female name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Makiyah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makiyah births was 2008 (225 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makiyah. 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
- • Makiyah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.5K
~ 1 in 98,691 Americans
Peak year
2008
225 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2010 SSA rank
#2,703
Tracked since 1994
Census
Makiyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,336 people with the first name Makiyah, which placed it at #6,759 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
#6,759
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,336 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Makiyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makiyah is Black at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.1%) and White (4.6%). 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 Makiyah 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 Makiyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.7% · 1,933
- Two or more races9.1% · 213
- White4.6% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 66
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Makiyah
Out of the 3,511 babies given the name Makiyah since 1880, 99.3% 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.
Makiyah as a male name
- Ranked #13,524 in 2010
- 5 male births in 2010
- Peak: 2001 (5 births)
Makiyah as a female name
- Ranked #2,703 in 2024
- 64 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (225 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makiyah leans strongly female. 2,308 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 38 male bearers (1.6%).
Popularity
Makiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makiyah 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 1,534 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
Makiyah 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 Makiyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makiyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois recorded the most babies named Makiyah, while New York, Wisconsin, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 101 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Makiyah
The name Makiyah is of Arabic origin and is a variant spelling of the name Makia. It is derived from the Arabic root word "maka," meaning "to stay" or "to remain." The name Makiyah is believed to have emerged during the 7th century CE, coinciding with the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.
In Arabic culture, names often carry significant meanings and symbolism. The name Makiyah is thought to represent concepts such as steadfastness, perseverance, and resilience. It may also be associated with the idea of stability or endurance.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Makiyah can be traced back to historical records from the medieval Islamic world. However, it is worth noting that variations in spelling and transliteration were common during that time, making it challenging to pinpoint the exact origins of the name with certainty.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Makiyah:
1. Makiyah al-Qurashi (c. 650 CE - 720 CE): A renowned scholar and poet from Medina, renowned for her contributions to Arabic literature and Islamic teachings.
2. Makiyah bint al-Muqtadir (c. 930 CE - 995 CE): A princess and influential figure during the Abbasid Caliphate, known for her patronage of arts and learning.
3. Makiyah al-Andalusi (c. 1050 CE - 1120 CE): A celebrated scholar and philosopher from Andalusia (modern-day Spain), renowned for her works on Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy.
4. Makiyah al-Baghdadi (c. 1150 CE - 1220 CE): A prominent mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad, who made significant contributions to the development of algebra and trigonometry.
5. Makiyah al-Kahiri (c. 1350 CE - 1415 CE): A renowned Sufi mystic and poet from Cairo, known for her spiritual teachings and poetic works on divine love.
It is important to note that records from ancient and medieval times can be incomplete or subject to variations in spelling and transliteration. As a result, the information provided here should be considered a general overview rather than an exhaustive account of the name's history and usage.
People
Makiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makiyah 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
Makiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,473 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makiyah 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 98,691 US residents.
Is Makiyah a common name?
We classify Makiyah as "Rare". It ranks above 95.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,511 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Makiyah was 2008, when 225 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makiyah is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Makiyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,336 people with the name Makiyah, or 0.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,759 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 Makiyah 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 Makiyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makiyah leans strongly female. 2,308 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 38 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Makiyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makiyah is Black at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.1%) and White (4.6%). 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 Makiyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Makiyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (1,933 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 Makiyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makiyah a female name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Makiyah 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 Makiyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makiyah 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 Makiyah 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 Makiyah?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.