Shakeia
Variant spelling of the feminine name Shakia, of unclear origin.
Name Census estimates that about 312 living Americans carry the first name Shakeia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shakeia today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakeia births was 1992 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakeia. 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
312
~ 1 in 1,098,572 Americans
Peak year
1992
26 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
1999 SSA rank
#14,117
Tracked since 1976
Census
Shakeia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 252 people with the first name Shakeia, which placed it at #33,030 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
#33,030
National first-name rank
People counted
252
252 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shakeia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakeia is Black at 96.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.6%) and Hispanic (0.8%). 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 Shakeia 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 Shakeia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.8% · 244
- Two or more races1.6% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 2
Popularity
Shakeia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakeia 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 163 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shakeia 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 Shakeia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakeias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shakeia
The name Shakeia is a relatively modern invention believed to have originated in the United States during the late 20th century. It does not have any direct etymological roots in ancient languages or cultural traditions, but rather appears to be a creative combination of sounds and syllables that was popularized as a given name.
While the exact origins of the name are unclear, it is likely a blend of the elements "Sha-" and "-keia," which may have been inspired by more traditional names like Shakira or Keisha. The name's distinctive sound and rhythmic quality perhaps appealed to parents seeking a unique and melodic name for their child.
As a relatively new name, there are no known historical figures or ancient texts that reference Shakeia specifically. However, the earliest recorded examples of the name being used date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Shakeia was Shakeia Mercer, an American singer and songwriter born in 1980. While not a household name, she released several albums in the early 2000s and gained a modest following within the contemporary R&B and soul genres.
Another individual with the name Shakeia is Shakeia Taylor, an American basketball player who competed in the WNBA for the Chicago Sky and the San Antonio Stars between 2008 and 2014.
In the realm of academia, Shakeia Renée Kegler is an American scholar and professor of education at the University of Kentucky, known for her research on diversity and equity in educational settings.
Shakeia Jennings, born in 1985, is an American entrepreneur and business owner who founded the successful hair care and beauty product line Shedavi in 2012.
Lastly, Shakeia Terrelonge is a Jamaican track and field athlete who represented her country in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
While the name Shakeia may not have a long historical lineage, its unique sound and contemporary origins have allowed it to establish a presence in various fields, from music and sports to academia and entrepreneurship, in recent decades.
People
Shakeia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakeia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shakeia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakeia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 312 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakeia 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 1,098,572 US residents.
Is Shakeia a common name?
We classify Shakeia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 328 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakeia most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakeia was 1992, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakeia is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shakeia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 252 people with the name Shakeia, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,030 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 Shakeia 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 Shakeia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakeia appears almost entirely female. Of the 252 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 Shakeia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakeia is Black at 96.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.6%) and Hispanic (0.8%). 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 Shakeia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakeia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.8% (244 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 Shakeia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakeia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shakeia 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 Shakeia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakeia 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 Shakeia 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 common is the name Shakeia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.