Mekka
Arabic name meaning "the holy city" or "a place of pilgrimage".
Name Census estimates that about 49 living Americans carry the first name Mekka. It is a predominantly female name (90.4% of registrations). The average person named Mekka today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mekka births was 1977 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mekka. 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 Mekka. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
49
~ 1 in 6,994,986 Americans
Peak year
1977
10 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2017 SSA rank
#13,587
Tracked since 1976
Gender
Gender distribution for Mekka
Mekka leans heavily female at 90.4% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mekka as a male name
- Ranked #13,587 in 2017
- 5 male births in 2017
- Peak: 2017 (5 births)
Mekka as a female name
- Ranked #17,963 in 2016
- 5 female births in 2016
- Peak: 1977 (10 births)
Popularity
Mekka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mekka from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Mekka remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mekka 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 Mekka 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 Mekka
The name Mekka has its origins in the ancient Arabic language, tracing back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the name of the holy city of Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia, which is revered as the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and the spiritual heart of Islam. The city's name itself is believed to come from the Arabic word "makka," meaning "a place of great sanctuary or resort."
In Islamic tradition, Mecca holds immense significance as the site of the Kaaba, a sacred cube-shaped structure that serves as the direction of prayer for Muslims worldwide. The name Mekka is closely associated with this religious and cultural legacy, imbuing it with a sense of reverence and spiritual connection.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mekka can be traced back to the 7th century, during the early days of the Islamic faith. It is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as well as in various historical accounts and chronicles from that era.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Mekka. One of the earliest was Mekka bint Humayd (594-665 CE), a renowned Arab poet and one of the few female poets of the pre-Islamic era whose works have survived. Another notable bearer was Mekka al-Mukarramah (1136-1216 CE), a celebrated Islamic scholar and jurist from Mecca who made significant contributions to the study of Sharia law.
In the 19th century, Mekka al-Zahrani (1815-1897) was a prominent Saudi Arabian religious leader and reformer who advocated for a return to the original teachings of Islam. Mekka Seri Negara (1853-1928) was a Malay princess and political figure who played a crucial role in the affairs of the Sultanate of Johor during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
More recently, Mekka Lekakov (1909-1995) was a renowned Chechen writer, poet, and playwright who made significant contributions to the development of Chechen literature and culture in the Soviet era.
The name Mekka continues to be used across various cultures and regions, particularly in the Muslim world, carrying with it a deep-rooted connection to Islamic history and tradition.
People
Mekka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mekka 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
Mekka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mekka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 49 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mekka 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 6,994,986 US residents.
Is Mekka a common name?
We classify Mekka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 52 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mekka most popular?
The single biggest year for Mekka was 1977, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mekka is about 35 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 Mekka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mekka a female name?
Yes, 90.4% of people registered as Mekka 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 Mekka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mekka 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 Mekka 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 Americans are named Mekka?
See how many Americans are named Mekka on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.