Mekhi
Of Arabic origin, meaning "possessor of power, dignity and nobility".
Name Census estimates that about 12,163 living Americans carry the first name Mekhi. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Mekhi today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mekhi births was 2005 (868 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mekhi. 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 Mekhi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Mekhi is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 113 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Mekhi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 28,180 Americans
Peak year
2005
868 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,024
Tracked since 1995
Census
Mekhi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,716 people with the first name Mekhi, which placed it at #2,694 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
#2,694
National first-name rank
People counted
8.7K
8,716 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mekhi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mekhi is Black at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.1%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Mekhi 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 Mekhi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.7% · 6,949
- Two or more races10.1% · 877
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 540
- White3.3% · 288
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 27
Gender
Gender distribution for Mekhi
Out of the 12,287 babies given the name Mekhi since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Mekhi as a male name
- Ranked #1,024 in 2024
- 217 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (861 births)
Mekhi as a female name
- Ranked #18,327 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1999 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mekhi leans strongly male. 8,603 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 111 female bearers (1.3%).
Popularity
Mekhi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mekhi 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 5,850 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
Mekhi 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 Mekhi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mekhis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. New York, Florida, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Mekhi, while Nebraska, Utah, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 292 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mekhi
The name Mekhi is a relatively modern name that emerged in the late 20th century. Its origins can be traced back to the Arabic language, where it is derived from the root word "khi" meaning "brother" or "protector." The prefix "me-" is often added to Arabic names to denote the meaning "from" or "belonging to."
While the exact origin of the name Mekhi is uncertain, it is believed to have been influenced by the popularity of similar-sounding Arabic names such as Mehdi, which means "the guided one," and Mikail, which is the Arabic form of the name Michael, meaning "who is like God."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Mekhi can be found in the late 1990s, when it began gaining popularity in the United States, particularly among African American communities. However, there are no significant historical references or famous individuals from ancient times associated with this name.
Among the notable people who have borne the name Mekhi throughout history are:
1. Mekhi Phifer (born 1975), an American actor known for his roles in films such as "8 Mile" and "Dawn of the Dead."
2. Mekhi Becton (born 1999), an American football offensive tackle who plays for the New York Jets in the National Football League.
3. Mekhi Sargent (born 1998), an American football running back who played for the University of Iowa.
4. Mekhi Sargent (born 1998), an American basketball player who played for the University of Missouri.
5. Mekhi Wingo (born 2002), an American basketball player who currently plays for the University of Missouri.
While the name Mekhi has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in the United States, its historical roots and cultural significance remain relatively limited compared to other names with longer histories and more extensive use across various cultures and regions.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Mekhi
People
Mekhi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mekhi 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
Mekhi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mekhi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,163 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mekhi 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 28,180 US residents.
Is Mekhi a common name?
We classify Mekhi as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,287 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mekhi most popular?
The single biggest year for Mekhi was 2005, when 868 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mekhi is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mekhi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,716 people with the name Mekhi, or 2.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,694 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 Mekhi 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 Mekhi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mekhi leans strongly male. 8,603 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 111 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Mekhi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mekhi is Black at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.1%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Mekhi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mekhi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (6,949 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 Mekhi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mekhi a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Mekhi in the SSA data are male. 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 Mekhi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mekhi 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 Mekhi 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 Americans are named Mekhi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.