Rakisha
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "dancer" or "entertainer".
Name Census estimates that about 162 living Americans carry the first name Rakisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rakisha today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rakisha births was 1981 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rakisha. 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
162
~ 1 in 2,115,768 Americans
Peak year
1981
21 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1994 SSA rank
#10,290
Tracked since 1975
Census
Rakisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 178 people with the first name Rakisha, which placed it at #41,266 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
#41,266
National first-name rank
People counted
178
178 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rakisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rakisha is Black at 86.0%. The next largest groups are White (6.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Rakisha 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 Rakisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.0% · 153
- White6.2% · 11
- Two or more races3.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 3
Popularity
Rakisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rakisha from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 107 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
Rakisha 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 Rakisha 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 Rakisha
The name Rakisha is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with roots tracing back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "rakib," which means "rider" or "knight." This name gained popularity during the early Islamic period and was often associated with warriors and individuals of noble or military backgrounds.
In ancient Islamic texts and historical records, the name Rakisha was sometimes used as a masculine name, but it gradually transitioned to become more commonly used as a feminine name over time. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been inspired by the legendary female warrior Khawlah bint al-Azwar, who fought alongside the Prophet Muhammad in the Battle of the Camel in 656 CE.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Rakisha can be found in the writings of the 9th-century Muslim historian and scholar, Al-Tabari. He mentioned a woman named Rakisha who was a prominent figure in the court of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tazz (866-869 CE).
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rakisha. One such figure was Rakisha al-Andalusiyya (born c. 1050 CE), a renowned poet and scholar from the Iberian Peninsula during the Islamic Golden Age. Her works were celebrated for their depth and eloquence, and she was highly regarded in literary circles of her time.
Another prominent Rakisha was Rakisha bint Abi Bakr (born c. 1140 CE), a respected Islamic scholar and jurist from Damascus. She was renowned for her expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the development of Islamic legal thought.
In the 13th century, Rakisha al-Dimashqiyya (born c. 1220 CE) was a influential mystic and Sufi saint from Damascus. She was revered for her spiritual teachings and her dedication to the Sufi path, and her legacy continues to be celebrated by Sufi orders to this day.
The name Rakisha also found its way into the Ottoman Empire, with Rakisha Khanum (born c. 1570 CE) being a notable figure. She was a powerful and influential woman in the Ottoman court, serving as a trusted advisor to several sultans and playing a significant role in shaping the political landscape of her time.
Another notable Rakisha was Rakisha al-Misriyya (born c. 1650 CE), a celebrated calligrapher and artist from Egypt. Her intricate and beautiful calligraphic works adorned many mosques and palaces throughout the region, and she is regarded as one of the great masters of Islamic calligraphy.
People
Rakisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rakisha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rakisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rakisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 162 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rakisha 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 2,115,768 US residents.
Is Rakisha a common name?
We classify Rakisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 173 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rakisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Rakisha was 1981, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rakisha is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rakisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 178 people with the name Rakisha, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,266 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 Rakisha 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 Rakisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rakisha leans strongly female. 175 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Rakisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rakisha is Black at 86.0%. The next largest groups are White (6.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Rakisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rakisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.0% (153 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 Rakisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rakisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rakisha 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 Rakisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rakisha 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 Rakisha 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 named Rakisha?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Rakisha at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.