Takiyah
An Arabic name meaning "piety", "fear of God", or "virtue".
Name Census estimates that about 1,890 living Americans carry the first name Takiyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Takiyah today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Takiyah births was 2005 (88 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Takiyah. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Takiyah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 181,352 Americans
Peak year
2005
88 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,020
Tracked since 1971
Census
Takiyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,473 people with the first name Takiyah, which placed it at #9,421 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
#9,421
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,473 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Takiyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takiyah is Black at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Takiyah 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 Takiyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.2% · 1,358
- Two or more races3.9% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 24
- White1.3% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 4
Popularity
Takiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Takiyah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 647 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Takiyah 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 Takiyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Takiyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. New York, Florida, Illinois recorded the most babies named Takiyah, while Louisiana, District of Columbia, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Takiyah
The name Takiyah is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, with roots tracing back to the Middle East and Islamic cultures. It is derived from the Arabic word "taqiya," which means "caution" or "prudence." The name Takiyah is often associated with the concept of discretion and wisdom.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Takiyah can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. In the Quran, the term "taqiya" is used to refer to the practice of concealing one's faith in times of danger or persecution. This concept played a significant role in the early days of Islam, when Muslims faced persecution and had to exercise caution in expressing their beliefs.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Takiyah. One of the earliest examples is Takiyah al-Naqshbandi, a 14th-century Sufi mystic and scholar from present-day Uzbekistan. She was renowned for her spiritual teachings and her contribution to the Naqshbandi order of Sufism.
Another prominent figure was Takiyah Begum, a 17th-century Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan, the ruler who commissioned the construction of the Taj Mahal. Takiyah Begum was known for her literary talents and her patronage of the arts.
In the 19th century, Takiyah Khanum was a prominent Iranian poet and writer who made significant contributions to Persian literature. Her works often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human experience.
Moving to the 20th century, Takiyah Masudi was an influential Afghan writer and feminist activist. Born in 1914, she played a crucial role in advocating for women's rights and education in Afghanistan during a time of great social and political change.
More recently, Takiyah Amin is a contemporary American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Born in 1982, she has gained recognition for her innovative designs and her commitment to promoting diversity and inclusivity in the fashion industry.
While the name Takiyah has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic cultures, it has transcended cultural and geographic boundaries, with individuals from various backgrounds and regions bearing this name throughout history. The name's association with caution, prudence, and wisdom has endured over the centuries, making it a powerful and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with deep cultural significance.
People
Takiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Takiyah 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
Takiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Takiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,890 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Takiyah 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 181,352 US residents.
Is Takiyah a common name?
We classify Takiyah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,964 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Takiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Takiyah was 2005, when 88 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Takiyah is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Takiyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,473 people with the name Takiyah, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,421 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 Takiyah 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 Takiyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Takiyah appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,474 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Takiyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takiyah is Black at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Takiyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Takiyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (1,358 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 Takiyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Takiyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Takiyah 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 Takiyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Takiyah 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 Takiyah 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 Americans are named Takiyah?
Want to know how many people share the name Takiyah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.