Mekayla
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variation of Michaela.
Name Census estimates that about 1,631 living Americans carry the first name Mekayla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mekayla today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mekayla births was 1998 (118 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mekayla. 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 Mekayla with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 210,150 Americans
Peak year
1998
118 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,966
Tracked since 1985
Census
Mekayla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,368 people with the first name Mekayla, which placed it at #9,929 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
#9,929
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,368 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
37.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mekayla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mekayla is Black at 37.6%. The next largest groups are White (36.7%) and Hispanic (12.6%). 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 Mekayla 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 Mekayla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American37.6% · 515
- White36.7% · 502
- Hispanic or Latino12.6% · 173
- Two or more races9.1% · 125
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 14
Popularity
Mekayla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mekayla 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 749 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
Mekayla 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 Mekayla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mekaylas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Mekayla, while South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mekayla
The name Mekayla is a relatively modern variation of the traditional name Michaela, which has its origins in the Hebrew name Michael, meaning "who is like God?". The earliest recorded use of the name Mekayla can be traced back to the late 20th century, when it began to gain popularity as a feminine form of the name Michael.
While the name Mekayla does not have a long historical lineage, its roots in the name Michael do. The name Michael has been around for centuries and has been widely used in various cultures and religions. In the Bible, Michael is the name of an archangel who is revered in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Michael can be found in the Book of Daniel, which dates back to around the 6th century BC. In this text, Michael is described as a protector and defender of the Jewish people. The name Michael later became popular among early Christians, who saw it as a symbol of strength and courage.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Michael or its variations, including the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (1223-1282), the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo (1475-1564), and the Irish revolutionary Michael Collins (1890-1922).
While the name Mekayla is a more recent addition to the lexicon, it has already been adopted by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Mekayla Diehl, an American actress born in 1995, who has appeared in several television shows and films. Another notable bearer of the name is Mekayla Eppers, a Canadian singer-songwriter born in 1997.
Other individuals with the name Mekayla include Mekayla Brianne Browne, a Jamaican sprinter born in 1992; Mekayla Carn, an American soccer player born in 1996; and Mekayla Dillard, an American boxer born in 1990.
While the name Mekayla is still relatively new, its connection to the ancient and widely-used name Michael gives it a sense of historical significance and meaning. As more individuals adopt this name, it is likely that its legacy will continue to grow and evolve.
People
Mekayla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mekayla 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
Mekayla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mekayla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,631 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mekayla 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 210,150 US residents.
Is Mekayla a common name?
We classify Mekayla as "Rare". It ranks above 92.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,665 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mekayla most popular?
The single biggest year for Mekayla was 1998, when 118 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mekayla is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mekayla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,368 people with the name Mekayla, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,929 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 Mekayla 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 Mekayla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mekayla appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,367 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Mekayla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mekayla is Black at 37.6%. The next largest groups are White (36.7%) and Hispanic (12.6%). 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 Mekayla most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mekayla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.6% (515 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 Mekayla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mekayla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mekayla 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 Mekayla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mekayla 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 Mekayla 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 named Mekayla?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.