Makkah
A masculine given name of Arabic origin meaning "a revered place".
Name Census estimates that about 111 living Americans carry the first name Makkah. It is a predominantly female name (93.8% of registrations). The average person named Makkah today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makkah births was 2021 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makkah. 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 Makkah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
111
~ 1 in 3,087,877 Americans
Peak year
2021
24 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,299
Tracked since 1999
Gender
Gender distribution for Makkah
Makkah leans heavily female at 93.8% of total registrations, but 7 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Makkah as a male name
- Ranked #10,381 in 2021
- 7 male births in 2021
- Peak: 2021 (7 births)
Makkah as a female name
- Ranked #9,299 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (17 births)
Popularity
Makkah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makkah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 74 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Makkah 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 Makkah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makkahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Makkah
The name Makkah is derived from the Arabic word "makkah" (مكة), which refers to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This city is considered one of the holiest sites in Islam and is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.
The name Makkah has its roots in pre-Islamic Arabia and is believed to be related to the Semitic root "m-k-k," which means "to crush" or "to make prostration." This may be a reference to the act of prostrating during prayer, a central practice in Islam.
In Islamic tradition, the name Makkah is deeply connected to the history of the Kaaba, a cube-shaped building located in the center of the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca. The Kaaba is considered the most sacred site in Islam and is the direction (qibla) toward which Muslims face during their daily prayers.
The name Makkah has been mentioned in various Islamic texts, including the Quran, where it is referred to as "Al-Balad Al-Amin" (the secure city) and "Umm al-Qura" (the mother of all settlements). The city is also mentioned in numerous hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and historical accounts.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Makkah or variations of it:
1. Makkah bint al-Harith (died c. 629 CE), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the earliest converts to Islam.
2. Makkah al-Mukarramah (c. 1150-1233 CE), a renowned Islamic scholar and mystic from Baghdad, known for her contributions to Sufism and Islamic philosophy.
3. Makkah ibn Muammar al-Dhubbi (c. 9th century CE), a prominent Arab poet and literary figure from Andalusia (modern-day Spain).
4. Makkah al-Fishtali (c. 1270-1349 CE), a Moroccan scholar and Sufi mystic known for his writings on Islamic spirituality and jurisprudence.
5. Makkah ibn Abi Makkah (c. 8th century CE), an early Arab grammarian and philologist from Basra, known for his contributions to the study of the Arabic language.
The name Makkah has held significant religious and cultural significance throughout Islamic history, serving as a reminder of the importance of the holy city of Mecca and its central role in the Islamic faith.
People
Makkah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makkah 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
Makkah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makkah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 111 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makkah 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 3,087,877 US residents.
Is Makkah a common name?
We classify Makkah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 112 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makkah most popular?
The single biggest year for Makkah was 2021, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makkah is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Makkah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makkah a female name?
Yes, 93.8% of people registered as Makkah 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 Makkah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makkah 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 Makkah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Makkah?
See how many Americans are named Makkah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.