Meccah
A feminine given name derived from the Arabic name of Mecca, a holy city in Saudi Arabia.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Meccah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 54.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Meccah today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meccah births was 1997 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meccah. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Meccah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1997
6 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,151
Tracked since 1997
Gender
Gender distribution for Meccah
Meccah is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 11 total registrations, 5 (45.5%) were male and 6 (54.5%) were female.
Meccah as a male name
- Ranked #13,656 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2022 (5 births)
Meccah as a female name
- Ranked #13,151 in 1997
- 6 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1997 (6 births)
Popularity
Meccah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meccah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 6 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
Meccah 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 Meccah 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 Meccah
The name Meccah is derived from the Arabic word "Makkah", which refers to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This city is considered the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and is the holiest site in Islam, housing the Kaaba and serving as the direction of prayer for Muslims worldwide.
The name Meccah likely emerged among Arabic-speaking communities as a way to honor the significance of the city of Mecca in Islamic tradition. Its origins can be traced back to the 7th century CE, when Islam began to spread across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.
In Islamic religious texts, such as the Quran and the Hadith, the city of Mecca is mentioned numerous times as a sacred site and the location of significant events in the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The name Meccah is closely tied to these religious and historical references.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Meccah was Meccah bint Umm Sharik, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who lived in the 7th century CE. Another notable figure was Meccah al-Baghdadi, a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Baghdad who lived in the 10th century CE.
During the medieval period, the name Meccah was also used by several notable figures in the Islamic world. Meccah al-Andalusi was a 12th-century philosopher and mathematician from Andalusia (modern-day Spain), while Meccah al-Qurashi was a 13th-century Sufi mystic from Persia.
In more recent history, Meccah al-Sayyid was a 19th-century Egyptian scholar and writer who made significant contributions to Arabic literature and Islamic studies. Additionally, Meccah Mariam Bey was an influential Egyptian feminist and women's rights activist in the early 20th century.
While the name Meccah is primarily associated with the Islamic faith and culture, it has also been adopted by individuals from various backgrounds and regions, often as a way to honor the city's religious and historical significance.
People
Meccah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meccah 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
Meccah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meccah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meccah 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Meccah a common name?
We classify Meccah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meccah most popular?
The single biggest year for Meccah was 1997, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meccah is about 17 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 Meccah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meccah a female name?
Yes, 54.5% of people registered as Meccah 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 Meccah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meccah 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 Meccah 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 many people have Meccah as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Meccah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.