Tomeka
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew name Tamar, meaning "date palm tree".
Name Census estimates that about 3,328 living Americans carry the first name Tomeka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tomeka today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tomeka births was 1976 (387 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tomeka. 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
3.3K
~ 1 in 102,991 Americans
Peak year
1976
387 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1974 SSA rank
#5,188
Tracked since 1963
Census
Tomeka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,813 people with the first name Tomeka, which placed it at #5,891 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
#5,891
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,813 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
93.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tomeka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tomeka is Black at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Tomeka 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 Tomeka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American93.4% · 2,627
- White3.0% · 84
- Two or more races2.2% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Tomeka
Out of the 3,634 babies given the name Tomeka since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Tomeka as a male name
- Ranked #5,188 in 1974
- 6 male births in 1974
- Peak: 1974 (6 births)
Tomeka as a female name
- Ranked #7,543 in 1996
- 12 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1976 (387 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tomeka appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,815 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Tomeka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tomeka from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 2,391 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tomeka 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 Tomeka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tomekas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. Georgia, North Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Tomeka, while Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 128 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tomeka
The name Tomeka is believed to have its origins in the Yoruba language spoken in West Africa, particularly in present-day Nigeria, Togo, and Benin. The Yoruba people have a rich cultural heritage that dates back centuries, and their naming traditions often reflect important values and beliefs.
In the Yoruba language, the name Tomeka is thought to be a combination of two words: "Tomi" meaning "to walk" or "to journey," and "eka" meaning "to look upon" or "to behold." Together, the name Tomeka can be interpreted to mean "one who walks with purpose" or "one who journeys with vision."
While the exact origins and historical references of the name Tomeka are not well-documented, it is believed to have been used within Yoruba communities for generations, possibly as early as the 16th or 17th century during the height of the Oyo Empire.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Tomeka can be found in the writings of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba linguist and the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria, who lived from 1809 to 1891. In his works, he mentioned the name Tomeka as a common name among Yoruba women.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the first name Tomeka:
1. Tomeka Reid (born 1977) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. She has been a prominent figure in the New York City jazz scene and has released several critically acclaimed albums.
2. Tomeka Williams (born 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Minnesota Lynx and the Houston Comets.
3. Tomeka Winbourne (born 1977) is an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017.
4. Tomeka Carr (born 1967) is an American author and motivational speaker known for her work in the self-help and personal development fields.
5. Tomeka Pringle (born 1985) is a former American track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump. She represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
As a name with roots in the Yoruba language and culture, Tomeka carries a sense of purpose, vision, and determination. Its historical usage and the accomplishments of those who have borne the name highlight its enduring significance across different eras and contexts.
People
Tomeka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tomeka 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
Tomeka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tomeka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,328 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tomeka 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 102,991 US residents.
Is Tomeka a common name?
We classify Tomeka as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,634 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tomeka most popular?
The single biggest year for Tomeka was 1976, when 387 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tomeka is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tomeka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,813 people with the name Tomeka, or 0.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,891 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 Tomeka 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 Tomeka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tomeka appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,815 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Tomeka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tomeka is Black at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Tomeka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tomeka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (2,627 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 Tomeka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tomeka a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Tomeka 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 Tomeka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tomeka 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 Tomeka 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 Tomeka as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Tomeka on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.