Takiah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "virtuous, pure, or chaste".
Name Census estimates that about 105 living Americans carry the first name Takiah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Takiah today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Takiah births was 2002 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Takiah. 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
105
~ 1 in 3,264,327 Americans
Peak year
2002
13 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2012 SSA rank
#16,635
Tracked since 1984
Census
Takiah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 152 people with the first name Takiah, which placed it at #44,992 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
#44,992
National first-name rank
People counted
152
152 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Takiah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takiah is Black at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and White (7.2%). 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 Takiah 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 Takiah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.9% · 120
- Two or more races9.2% · 14
- White7.2% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
Popularity
Takiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Takiah from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 71 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Takiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Takiah 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 Takiah 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 Takiah
The name Takiah has its roots in the Arabic language and culture. It is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the medieval period, roughly between the 5th and 15th centuries AD. The name is derived from the Arabic word "taqwa," which means "piety" or "God-fearing."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Takiah can be found in the writings of the famous 9th-century Islamic scholar and philosopher, Al-Kindi. He mentioned a woman named Takiah who was renowned for her wisdom and knowledge of the Qur'an. However, details about her life and exact historical period are scarce.
In the 11th century, a prominent Islamic scholar and jurist, Takiah Ibn Abi al-Qasim, was born in Cordoba, Spain. He was known for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and his contributions to the study of the Maliki school of thought within Sunni Islam. Unfortunately, the exact dates of his birth and death are uncertain.
During the 13th century, a renowned Sufi mystic and poet named Takiah al-Arabi lived in Andalusia, modern-day Spain. He was celebrated for his spiritual teachings and his profound understanding of the esoteric aspects of Islam. Some of his poetry and philosophical works are still studied and revered today.
In the 16th century, a female Ottoman poet named Takiah Banu emerged from the imperial harem in Istanbul. She was highly esteemed for her literary talents and her contributions to the Ottoman literary canon. Takiah Banu's exact dates of birth and death are unknown, but her poems are still preserved and admired.
Another notable figure bearing the name Takiah was Takiah Shihab, a 17th-century Arab scholar and historian from present-day Lebanon. He authored several important works on the history and culture of the Levant region and was highly regarded for his knowledge and wisdom.
While the name Takiah has its origins in the Arabic world, it has also been adopted and adapted by various cultures and ethnicities over time. However, the core meaning of the name, which signifies piety and devotion to God, has remained consistent throughout its history.
People
Takiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Takiah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Takiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Takiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Takiah 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 3,264,327 US residents.
Is Takiah a common name?
We classify Takiah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 107 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Takiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Takiah was 2002, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Takiah is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Takiah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 152 people with the name Takiah, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,992 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 Takiah 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 Takiah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Takiah leans strongly female. 152 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 5 male bearers (3.2%). 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 Takiah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takiah is Black at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and White (7.2%). 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 Takiah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Takiah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (120 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 Takiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Takiah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Takiah 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 Takiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Takiah 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 Takiah 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 are named Takiah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.