Shakita
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "graceful" or "wonderful woman".
Name Census estimates that about 1,135 living Americans carry the first name Shakita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shakita today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakita births was 1986 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakita. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 301,986 Americans
Peak year
1986
81 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2001 SSA rank
#17,497
Tracked since 1974
Census
Shakita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 944 people with the first name Shakita, which placed it at #12,955 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
#12,955
National first-name rank
People counted
944
944 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
95.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shakita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakita is Black at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and White (0.7%). 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 Shakita 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 Shakita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American95.8% · 904
- Two or more races2.4% · 23
- White0.7% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Shakita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakita 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 666 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
Shakita 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 Shakita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Illinois, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Shakita, while New York, Alabama, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shakita
The name Shakita is of African origin, derived from the Swahili word "shaka," meaning "thankful" or "grateful." Its roots can be traced back to the Bantu languages spoken in various parts of East and Central Africa.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the name gained popularity among African-American communities in the United States, particularly in the southern states. It was a reflection of the cultural heritage and pride in African roots during a time when many African Americans sought to reconnect with their ancestral identities.
One of the earliest documented uses of the name Shakita can be found in historical records from the late 19th century. In 1892, Shakita Johnson, an African-American woman born in Mississippi, was listed in census records, indicating the name's presence in the southern United States during that period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shakita. One such person was Shakita Green (born 1971), an American actress and singer best known for her role in the film "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" (1993). Another prominent figure was Shakita Jones (1961-2017), an American lawyer and political activist who served as the president of the National Bar Association from 2012 to 2013.
In the realm of sports, Shakita Robertson (born 1980) was a professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Los Angeles Sparks and the Houston Comets. Shakita Renee Tyler (born 1986) was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and won several NCAA championships.
Additionally, Shakita Wilkins (born 1978) was a renowned American chef and cookbook author who gained recognition for her expertise in Southern cuisine and her efforts to promote healthy eating in underserved communities.
While the name Shakita may have originated from a specific cultural and linguistic background, it has transcended geographical boundaries and become a part of the diverse tapestry of names celebrated across the globe, with each bearer contributing to its rich history and legacy.
People
Shakita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakita 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
Shakita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,135 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakita 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 301,986 US residents.
Is Shakita a common name?
We classify Shakita as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,202 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakita most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakita was 1986, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakita is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shakita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 944 people with the name Shakita, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,955 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 Shakita 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 Shakita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakita appears almost entirely female. Of the 942 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 Shakita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakita is Black at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and White (0.7%). 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 Shakita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.8% (904 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 Shakita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shakita 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 Shakita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakita 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 Shakita 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 Americans are named Shakita?
Want to know how many people have the name Shakita? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.