Shemeka
Feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly from the Hebrew shemekah meaning "remaining" or "leftover".
Name Census estimates that about 1,456 living Americans carry the first name Shemeka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shemeka today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shemeka births was 1982 (135 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shemeka. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 235,408 Americans
Peak year
1982
135 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2003 SSA rank
#15,473
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Shemeka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shemeka 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 839 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
Shemeka 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 Shemeka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shemekas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Georgia, Louisiana, Texas recorded the most babies named Shemeka, while Tennessee, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 71 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shemeka
The name Shemeka has its origins in the African American community, and it is believed to have emerged as a variant of the name Shemika, which itself is a combination of the Hebrew name Shemuel and the Greek name Michaelis. The earliest recorded use of the name Shemeka dates back to the mid-20th century.
While the precise etymology of the name Shemeka is not entirely clear, it is thought to have been derived from the Hebrew name Shemuel, which means "name of God" or "God has heard." The name Shemuel was popular in ancient Israel and is found in the Hebrew Bible, where it was borne by the prophet Samuel.
The addition of the "-ka" suffix to the name Shemeka is believed to have been influenced by African naming traditions, where suffixes are often added to names to create new, unique variants. This practice was common among African American communities, as it allowed for the creation of distinctively African American names that reflected their cultural identity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shemeka can be found in the 1970s, when it started gaining popularity among African American families. Some notable individuals named Shemeka throughout history include Shemeka Campbell, an American singer and songwriter born in 1977, and Shemeka Benton, an American basketball player born in 1981.
Other notable individuals with the name Shemeka include Shemeka Millner, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, and Shemeka Elleby, an American basketball player who played professionally in the WNBA and overseas.
While the name Shemeka is not as widely known as some other African American names, it holds a special significance within the community as a reflection of their cultural heritage and the blending of various linguistic influences.
People
Shemeka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shemeka 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
Shemeka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shemeka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,456 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shemeka 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 235,408 US residents.
Is Shemeka a common name?
We classify Shemeka as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,563 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shemeka most popular?
The single biggest year for Shemeka was 1982, when 135 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shemeka is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shemeka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shemeka 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.
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.