Takiesha
African American feminine name derived from Tukunisha, meaning "to be introduced to something new".
Name Census estimates that about 170 living Americans carry the first name Takiesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Takiesha today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Takiesha births was 1978 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Takiesha. 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
170
~ 1 in 2,016,202 Americans
Peak year
1978
22 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1996 SSA rank
#15,619
Tracked since 1974
Census
Takiesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 153 people with the first name Takiesha, which placed it at #44,840 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
#44,840
National first-name rank
People counted
153
153 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Takiesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takiesha is Black at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Takiesha 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 Takiesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.2% · 135
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 5
- Two or more races3.3% · 5
- White2.6% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 4
Popularity
Takiesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Takiesha from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 75 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Takiesha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Takiesha 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 Takiesha 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 Takiesha
The given name Takiesha is believed to have its origins in the African-American community, emerging as a unique and creative variation of more traditional names like Takia or Keisha. This name gained popularity in the latter half of the 20th century, particularly in urban areas of the United States.
While the exact etymology of Takiesha is unclear, some linguists suggest it may be a combination of the African name Takia and the Hebrew name Keisha, which means "prosperous" or "blessed." Others speculate that it could be derived from the Arabic name Takedah, meaning "pure" or "virtuous."
Despite its relatively recent emergence, the name Takiesha has already found its place in various cultural and historical contexts. One of the earliest known instances of the name can be traced back to Takiesha Duncan, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games.
Another notable figure with this name is Takiesha Renée Jones, an American professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for several teams, including the Houston Comets and the Phoenix Mercury, between 2000 and 2010.
In the world of music, Takiesha Blake, better known by her stage name Takiesa AF, is a Canadian rapper and songwriter who gained recognition for her unique blend of hip-hop and spoken word poetry in the early 2000s.
Moving to the field of literature, Takiesha Malley is an acclaimed African-American author and poet whose work explores themes of identity, race, and social justice. Her debut poetry collection, "Voices from the Margins," was published in 2015 and received critical acclaim.
Lastly, Takiesha Galloway is a prominent community activist and social worker from Detroit, Michigan. She has been recognized for her efforts in promoting youth empowerment and advocating for equal educational opportunities in underserved communities.
While the name Takiesha may be relatively modern, its presence in various spheres of life, from sports to arts and activism, highlights its growing significance and the diverse individuals who have embraced this unique moniker.
People
Takiesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Takiesha 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
Takiesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Takiesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 170 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Takiesha 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 2,016,202 US residents.
Is Takiesha a common name?
We classify Takiesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 182 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Takiesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Takiesha was 1978, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Takiesha is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Takiesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 153 people with the name Takiesha, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,840 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 Takiesha 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 Takiesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Takiesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 155 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 Takiesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takiesha is Black at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Takiesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Takiesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.2% (135 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 Takiesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Takiesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Takiesha 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 Takiesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Takiesha 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 Takiesha 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 Takiesha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.