Zakeya
A feminine Arabic name meaning "intelligent" or "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 179 living Americans carry the first name Zakeya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zakeya today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zakeya births was 1999 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zakeya. 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
179
~ 1 in 1,914,829 Americans
Peak year
1999
26 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2020 SSA rank
#15,031
Tracked since 1982
Census
Zakeya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 213 people with the first name Zakeya, which placed it at #36,939 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
#36,939
National first-name rank
People counted
213
213 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zakeya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakeya is Black at 86.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.7%). 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 Zakeya 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 Zakeya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.4% · 184
- White4.7% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
- Two or more races0.5% · 1
Popularity
Zakeya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zakeya from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 88 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zakeya 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 Zakeya 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 Zakeya
The name Zakeya is of Arabic origin and is derived from the Arabic root word "zaka," which means "to purify" or "to increase." It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries in the Arab world and Islamic cultures.
In Arabic literature and Islamic texts, the name Zakeya is often associated with purity, righteousness, and spiritual growth. It is believed to have been inspired by the Islamic concept of "zakat," which refers to the obligation of giving a portion of one's wealth to those in need.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zakeya can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the early years of Islam. One of the most notable historical figures with this name was Zakeya bint Amir, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who was known for her piety and devotion to the Islamic faith.
Throughout the centuries, the name Zakeya has been borne by various notable women in the Arab and Islamic worlds. One such figure was Zakeya Shukri (1882-1938), an Egyptian feminist and writer who advocated for women's rights and education in the early 20th century.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Zakeya Ismail (1918-2020), an Egyptian writer and academic who made significant contributions to the field of Arabic literature and criticism. She was a recipient of several prestigious literary awards and was widely respected for her scholarly work.
In the realm of poetry, Zakeya Azmeh (1924-2001) was a renowned Syrian poet and writer whose works explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition. Her poetic legacy continues to influence contemporary Arabic literature.
Zakeya Abboud (1924-2005) was a Palestinian artist and ceramicist whose works celebrated Palestinian culture and identity. Her intricate ceramic pieces were exhibited globally and are considered significant contributions to the art world.
Lastly, Zakeya Hammad (born 1953) is a Moroccan writer and academic who has written extensively on women's issues and Arab feminism. Her works have been influential in shaping contemporary discourse on gender and social justice in the Arab world.
People
Zakeya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zakeya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zakeya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zakeya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 179 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zakeya 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 1,914,829 US residents.
Is Zakeya a common name?
We classify Zakeya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 184 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zakeya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zakeya was 1999, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zakeya is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zakeya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 213 people with the name Zakeya, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,939 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 Zakeya 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 Zakeya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zakeya leans strongly female. 213 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Zakeya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakeya is Black at 86.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.7%). 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 Zakeya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zakeya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.4% (184 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 Zakeya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zakeya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zakeya 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 Zakeya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zakeya 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 Zakeya 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 share the name Zakeya?
Want to know how many people share the name Zakeya? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.