Okema
An indigenous American name meaning "leader" or "chief".
Name Census estimates that about 64 living Americans carry the first name Okema. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Okema today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Okema births was 1975 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Okema. 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 Okema. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
64
~ 1 in 5,355,537 Americans
Peak year
1975
46 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1979 SSA rank
#8,692
Tracked since 1973
Census
Okema in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 126 people with the first name Okema, which placed it at #49,344 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
#49,344
National first-name rank
People counted
126
126 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Okema
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Okema is Black at 84.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and White (4.0%). 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 Okema 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 Okema at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.9% · 107
- Two or more races5.6% · 7
- White4.0% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 3
Popularity
Okema: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Okema 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 Okema during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0 | 71 | 71 |
Geography
Where Okemas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Okema
The name Okema has its origins in the Native American Algonquian languages, spoken by various tribes and nations across much of eastern North America. It is believed to have been derived from the Algonquian word "oki," which means "principal" or "leader," and "ma," meaning "the." Thus, Okema can be interpreted as "the principal" or "the leader."
In the 17th century, during the early years of European colonization, the name Okema was recorded as being used by prominent leaders and chiefs among various Algonquian tribes. One notable example is Okematen, a sachem (chief) of the Wampanoag tribe who lived in the early 1600s and played a role in the events leading up to the First Thanksgiving.
The name Okema also appears in some historical accounts and records from the 18th and 19th centuries, often in reference to Native American leaders and negotiators who interacted with European settlers and colonial authorities. For instance, Okemah, a Creek leader, was involved in negotiations with the United States government in the early 1800s.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Okema was Okemah Nundey, a prominent Creek leader who lived in the late 18th century and was known for his oratorical skills and advocacy for his people's rights.
Another notable figure was Okemah Harjo, a Creek warrior and leader who fought against the United States during the Creek War of 1813-1814. He was a key figure in the Red Stick resistance movement and played a significant role in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814.
In the 19th century, Okemah Yahola was a leader of the Creek Nation who led a faction of his people in opposition to the removal policies of the United States government. He was eventually forced to relocate to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears in the 1830s.
While the name Okema has its roots in Native American cultures, it has also been adopted and used by non-Native individuals over time, particularly in regions with significant Native American populations or historical connections.
People
Okema + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Okema as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Okema: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Okema?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 64 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Okema 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 5,355,537 US residents.
Is Okema a common name?
We classify Okema as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 71 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Okema most popular?
The single biggest year for Okema was 1975, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Okema is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Okema in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 126 people with the name Okema, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,344 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 Okema 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 Okema?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Okema leans strongly female. 117 people counted with this name were female (90.7%), compared with 12 male bearers (9.3%). 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 Okema?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Okema is Black at 84.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and White (4.0%). 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 Okema most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Okema in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.9% (107 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 Okema in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Okema a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Okema 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 Okema still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Okema 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 Okema 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 have the name Okema?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Okema, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.