Nekeisha
A feminine name derived from a Kiswahili word meaning "one who is determined".
Name Census estimates that about 251 living Americans carry the first name Nekeisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nekeisha today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nekeisha births was 1978 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nekeisha. 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.
People living today
251
~ 1 in 1,365,555 Americans
Peak year
1978
25 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2000 SSA rank
#14,490
Tracked since 1973
Census
Nekeisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 310 people with the first name Nekeisha, which placed it at #28,807 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
#28,807
National first-name rank
People counted
310
310 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nekeisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nekeisha is Black at 86.8%. The next largest groups are White (4.8%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Nekeisha 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 Nekeisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.8% · 269
- White4.8% · 15
- Two or more races4.5% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
Popularity
Nekeisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nekeisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 117 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nekeisha 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 Nekeisha 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 Nekeisha
The name Nekeisha has its origins in the Yoruba language, spoken primarily in West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, Togo, and Benin. It emerged during the late 20th century as a combination of the Yoruba words "eni" meaning "person" and "keisha" meaning "plentiful" or "bountiful."
This name was relatively uncommon until the mid-20th century when it gained popularity in the African-American community, likely influenced by the Black Power and Black Pride movements of the 1960s and 1970s. During this time, many African-Americans sought to reclaim their cultural roots and embrace names with African origins.
While there are no known historical records or ancient texts specifically referencing the name Nekeisha, its Yoruba roots suggest a connection to the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people in West Africa. The Yoruba are known for their vibrant traditions, artistic expressions, and spiritual belief systems.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Nekeisha can be traced back to Nekeisha Lamare, an American actress born in 1955. She appeared in several television shows and films throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including "The Jeffersons" and "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh."
Another notable figure with the name Nekeisha is Nekeisha LaShaun Adams, an American professional basketball player born in 1983. She played in the WNBA for teams like the Indiana Fever and the Seattle Storm, and represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where the team won gold.
Nekeisha Obinger, born in 1981, is a former American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprinting events. She won a silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Nekeisha Prendergast is a Jamaican-American educator and community activist born in 1970. She has been recognized for her work in promoting literacy and educational opportunities for underprivileged communities.
Nekeisha Pearson is an American actress born in 1976, best known for her role as Felicia in the television series "The Wire." She has also appeared in several other TV shows and films over the past two decades.
People
Nekeisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nekeisha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nekeisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nekeisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 251 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nekeisha 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 1,365,555 US residents.
Is Nekeisha a common name?
We classify Nekeisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nekeisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Nekeisha was 1978, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nekeisha is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nekeisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 310 people with the name Nekeisha, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,807 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 Nekeisha 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 Nekeisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nekeisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 303 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Nekeisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nekeisha is Black at 86.8%. The next largest groups are White (4.8%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Nekeisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nekeisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.8% (269 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 Nekeisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nekeisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nekeisha 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 Nekeisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nekeisha 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 Nekeisha 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 called Nekeisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.