Shekia
A feminine name derived from the Arabic word "shaqiya" meaning "fortunate" or "lucky one".
Name Census estimates that about 296 living Americans carry the first name Shekia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shekia today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shekia births was 1982 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shekia. 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
296
~ 1 in 1,157,954 Americans
Peak year
1982
23 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
1996 SSA rank
#11,610
Tracked since 1976
Census
Shekia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 267 people with the first name Shekia, which placed it at #31,863 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
#31,863
National first-name rank
People counted
267
267 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shekia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shekia is Black at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and White (2.6%). 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 Shekia 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 Shekia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.0% · 243
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 11
- White2.6% · 7
- Two or more races1.9% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Shekia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shekia 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 179 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Shekia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shekia 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 Shekia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shekias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shekia
The name Shekia has its origins in Arabic, derived from the root word "shak" which means "doubt" or "uncertainty." It emerged during the medieval period in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Shekia is a feminine given name that was initially popularized among Arabic-speaking communities. The earliest recorded instances of this name can be traced back to the 9th century, where it appeared in historical records and manuscripts from regions like modern-day Iraq, Syria, and Egypt.
One of the earliest known references to the name Shekia can be found in the writings of the renowned Arab philosopher and poet, Ibn al-Muqaffa' (720-756 AD). In his poetry, he used the name to symbolize the uncertainty and fleeting nature of life.
In the 11th century, a notable figure named Shekia bint al-Husayn (1010-1087) gained recognition as a prominent scholar and poet in the city of Baghdad. Her works, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, have been preserved and studied by scholars over the centuries.
During the 13th century, there was a famous Sufi mystic known as Shekia al-Baghdadi (1190-1262), who was revered for her profound teachings on the spiritual path and unity with the divine. Her teachings influenced many seekers of that era and continue to be studied by Sufi orders today.
In the realm of literature, one cannot overlook the contribution of Shekia al-Andalusi (1325-1401), a renowned poet from the Iberian Peninsula. Her poetic works, which often celebrated the beauty of nature and the complexities of human emotions, are considered masterpieces of that era.
Shekia al-Maraghi (1460-1522), an accomplished astronomer and mathematician from the Ottoman Empire, made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the development of observational instruments. Her work paved the way for advancements in the field of astronomy during the Renaissance period.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Shekia, each leaving an indelible mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Shekia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shekia 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
Shekia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shekia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 296 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shekia 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 1,157,954 US residents.
Is Shekia a common name?
We classify Shekia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 313 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shekia most popular?
The single biggest year for Shekia was 1982, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shekia 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 Shekia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 267 people with the name Shekia, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,863 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 Shekia 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 Shekia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shekia leans strongly female. 263 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 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 Shekia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shekia is Black at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and White (2.6%). 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 Shekia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shekia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.0% (243 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 Shekia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shekia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shekia 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 Shekia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shekia 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 Shekia 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 Shekia?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Shekia at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.