Maquita
A feminine Spanish name of unknown meaning, perhaps derived from "maca" meaning "small".
Name Census estimates that about 125 living Americans carry the first name Maquita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maquita today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maquita births was 1983 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maquita. 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
125
~ 1 in 2,742,035 Americans
Peak year
1983
27 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
1992 SSA rank
#12,724
Tracked since 1976
Census
Maquita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 128 people with the first name Maquita, which placed it at #49,019 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
#49,019
National first-name rank
People counted
128
128 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maquita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maquita is Black at 88.3%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Maquita 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 Maquita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.3% · 113
- White3.9% · 5
- Two or more races3.9% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 2
Popularity
Maquita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maquita from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 92 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maquita 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 Maquita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maquita
The name Maquita is believed to have originated from the Spanish language, derived from the word "maquita," which means "little hand." It is a diminutive form of the Spanish word "mano," meaning hand. The name's origins can be traced back to Spain and the Spanish-speaking regions of Latin America.
The earliest recorded use of the name Maquita dates back to the 16th century in Spain. It was initially a nickname given to babies with small, delicate hands. Over time, it became a popular given name, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries.
In the 17th century, the name Maquita appeared in several literary works by Spanish authors, indicating its widespread use during that period. One notable example is the novel "La Gitanilla" by Miguel de Cervantes, where a character named Maquita is mentioned.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Maquita. One of the earliest recorded figures was Maquita de Burgos, a Spanish nun who lived in the 15th century and was known for her charitable works. Another notable individual was Maquita Fernández, a Spanish artist from the 19th century who gained recognition for her intricate pottery designs.
In the 20th century, Maquita Serna was a Colombian singer and actress who rose to fame in the 1950s for her performances in various musical theater productions. Her birth name was María Aquilina Serna Quintero, but she adopted the stage name Maquita.
Another notable figure was Maquita Herriegel, a German-born writer and translator who lived in the 20th century. She was known for her translations of Japanese literature and her works on Japanese culture.
In more recent times, Maquita García was a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in several telenovelas and films during the latter part of the 20th century. She was born in 1940 and passed away in 2011.
While the name Maquita has its roots in Spanish-speaking cultures, it has also been adopted in other regions, particularly in Latin America, where it remains a popular choice for baby girls.
People
Maquita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maquita 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
Maquita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maquita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 125 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maquita 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 2,742,035 US residents.
Is Maquita a common name?
We classify Maquita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 133 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maquita most popular?
The single biggest year for Maquita was 1983, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maquita is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maquita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 128 people with the name Maquita, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,019 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 Maquita 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 Maquita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maquita appears almost entirely female. Of the 127 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Maquita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maquita is Black at 88.3%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Maquita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Maquita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (113 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 Maquita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maquita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maquita 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 Maquita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maquita 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 Maquita 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 are called Maquita?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.