Shimeka
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly an invented variation of "Shemika".
Name Census estimates that about 243 living Americans carry the first name Shimeka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shimeka today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shimeka births was 1982 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shimeka. 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
243
~ 1 in 1,410,512 Americans
Peak year
1982
23 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1993 SSA rank
#13,198
Tracked since 1972
Census
Shimeka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 223 people with the first name Shimeka, which placed it at #35,856 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
#35,856
National first-name rank
People counted
223
223 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
95.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shimeka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shimeka is Black at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Shimeka 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 Shimeka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American95.5% · 213
- Two or more races2.7% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
Popularity
Shimeka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shimeka 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 139 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
Shimeka 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 Shimeka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shimeka
The name Shimeka is believed to have its origins in the Akan language spoken by the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast in West Africa. It is a combination of two words: "shim" meaning "my path" or "my way," and "eka" meaning "mercy" or "blessing." Thus, Shimeka can be interpreted as "my blessed path" or "my merciful way."
This name dates back several centuries, with some linguistic experts tracing its roots to the late 15th or early 16th century during the height of the Ashanti Empire in present-day Ghana. It was a name traditionally given to girls born into noble or royal families, representing the hope for a life filled with blessings and guidance.
While no specific historical references to the name Shimeka have been found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it was likely used orally within the Akan communities for generations before being recorded in written form.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shimeka can be found in the journals of British explorer Mungo Park, who encountered an Ashanti woman bearing this name during his travels through West Africa in the late 18th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Shimeka, including:
1. Shimeka Frazer (born 1980), an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA.
2. Shimeka Milton (born 1985), an American jazz singer and songwriter.
3. Shimeka Williams (born 1981), an American sprinter and Olympic medalist.
4. Shimeka Milligan (born 1977), an American gospel singer and songwriter.
5. Shimeka Hewitt (born 1982), a Jamaican track and field athlete who competed in the Olympics.
These individuals, hailing from various fields such as sports, music, and entertainment, have helped to carry on the legacy and cultural significance of the name Shimeka in modern times.
People
Shimeka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shimeka 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
Shimeka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shimeka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shimeka 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 1,410,512 US residents.
Is Shimeka a common name?
We classify Shimeka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 261 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shimeka most popular?
The single biggest year for Shimeka was 1982, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shimeka is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shimeka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 223 people with the name Shimeka, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,856 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 Shimeka 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 Shimeka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shimeka appears almost entirely female. Of the 227 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 Shimeka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shimeka is Black at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Shimeka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shimeka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (213 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 Shimeka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shimeka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shimeka 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 Shimeka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shimeka 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 Shimeka 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 Shimeka?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.