Shakeya
A feminine name of African American origin meaning "She walked gracefully".
Name Census estimates that about 683 living Americans carry the first name Shakeya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shakeya today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakeya births was 1993 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakeya. 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
683
~ 1 in 501,837 Americans
Peak year
1993
50 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2010 SSA rank
#19,385
Tracked since 1975
Census
Shakeya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 500 people with the first name Shakeya, which placed it at #20,593 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
#20,593
National first-name rank
People counted
500
500 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shakeya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakeya is Black at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Shakeya 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 Shakeya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.8% · 459
- Two or more races3.8% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 14
- White0.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Shakeya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakeya from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 329 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
Shakeya 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 Shakeya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakeyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Shakeya, while Virginia, South Carolina, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shakeya
The name Shakeya has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period in the Middle East. The name is derived from the Arabic word "shak," which means "doubt" or "skepticism." It is speculated that the name was initially given to children as a reminder to approach life with a healthy dose of questioning and critical thinking.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shakeya can be found in a 12th-century manuscript from the court of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. The manuscript mentions a renowned scholar and philosopher named Shakeya ibn Khalid, who was known for his insightful writings on epistemology and the pursuit of knowledge.
In the 14th century, the name gained further prominence with Shakeya al-Dimashqi, a Syrian poet and author who was celebrated for her intricate verses and her contributions to the literary traditions of the Arabic Golden Age. Her works often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the complexities of the human experience.
Moving forward in history, we encounter Shakeya al-Qahirah, a 16th-century Egyptian polymath who made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and engineering. She is credited with designing innovative water clocks and intricate astronomical instruments that helped advance scientific understanding during her time.
In the 18th century, the name appears in the form of Shakeya al-Mahdiya, a Moroccan scholar and educator who played a pivotal role in establishing one of the earliest schools for girls in the region. Her efforts to promote education and empower women were groundbreaking for that era.
Another notable figure bearing the name Shakeya is the 19th-century Sudanese activist and abolitionists, Shakeya bint Abdu. She dedicated her life to fighting against the slave trade and advocating for the rights of marginalized communities in her homeland. Her courageous actions and unwavering commitment to justice left an indelible mark on the anti-slavery movement of that time.
People
Shakeya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakeya 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
Shakeya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakeya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 683 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakeya 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 501,837 US residents.
Is Shakeya a common name?
We classify Shakeya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 718 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakeya most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakeya was 1993, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakeya 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 Shakeya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 500 people with the name Shakeya, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,593 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 Shakeya 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 Shakeya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakeya appears almost entirely female. Of the 498 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Shakeya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakeya is Black at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Shakeya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakeya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (459 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 Shakeya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakeya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shakeya 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 Shakeya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakeya 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 Shakeya 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 Shakeya?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.