Mikei
A masculine given name of Aboriginal Australian origin meaning "little man".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Mikei. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mikei today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mikei births was 2005 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mikei. 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 Mikei. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2005
5 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2005 SSA rank
#12,711
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Mikei: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Mikei 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 Mikei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Mikei
The name Mikei is thought to have originated from the Yoruba language spoken in West Africa, particularly in present-day Nigeria and parts of Benin. Its roots can be traced back to the 15th century or earlier. The name is believed to be derived from the word "omi" meaning water and "ike" meaning strength or power, suggesting a meaning along the lines of "strength of water" or "powerful water".
Mikei appears to have been a relatively common name among the Yoruba people, as evidenced by its presence in some historical records and oral traditions. However, there are no definitive references to the name in ancient texts or religious scriptures from the region.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Mikei dates back to the 17th century, when a Yoruba chief named Mikei Ologun was known for his military prowess and leadership during the wars against the neighboring Dahomey Kingdom.
In the 19th century, Mikei Adeyemi was a prominent Yoruba trader who played a crucial role in the expansion of the palm oil trade between West Africa and Europe. He was born around 1810 and lived until the late 1800s.
Another notable bearer of the name was Mikei Soyinka, a Yoruba artist and sculptor who was active in the early 20th century. His works were instrumental in preserving and promoting Yoruba cultural traditions through art.
In the realm of literature, Mikei Fagunwa, born in 1903 and died in 1963, was a renowned Yoruba writer and storyteller. His novels, such as "Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole" (The Forest of a Thousand Daemons), were celebrated for their rich language and incorporation of Yoruba folklore.
Mikei Orunsolu, born in 1924 and passed away in 2010, was a Nigerian politician and activist who played a significant role in the country's independence movement and the subsequent struggle for democracy.
While the name Mikei is deeply rooted in Yoruba culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of West Africa and among the African diaspora communities around the world, albeit with varying spellings and pronunciations.
People
Mikei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mikei 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
Mikei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mikei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mikei 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Mikei a common name?
We classify Mikei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mikei most popular?
The single biggest year for Mikei was 2005, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mikei is about 21 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 Mikei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mikei a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mikei 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 Mikei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mikei 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 Mikei 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 share the name Mikei?
Want to know how many people have the name Mikei? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.