Jakaya
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "grateful, thankful".
Name Census estimates that about 217 living Americans carry the first name Jakaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jakaya today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jakaya births was 2002 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jakaya. 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
217
~ 1 in 1,579,513 Americans
Peak year
2002
20 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,291
Tracked since 1994
Census
Jakaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 214 people with the first name Jakaya, which placed it at #36,840 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
#36,840
National first-name rank
People counted
214
214 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jakaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jakaya is Black at 90.7%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Jakaya 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 Jakaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.7% · 194
- White4.7% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 4
- Two or more races1.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Jakaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jakaya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 136 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
Jakaya 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 Jakaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jakayas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jakaya
The name Jakaya has its origins in the Swahili language, which is primarily spoken in East Africa, particularly in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The name can be traced back to the Bantu languages, which are a group of languages native to Central and Southern Africa.
Jakaya is believed to be derived from the Swahili word "akaya," which means "to be happy" or "to be joyful." This suggests that the name was given to children with the hope that they would lead a life filled with happiness and joy. The name is also sometimes spelled as "Jakkaya" or "Jakka," but the meaning remains the same.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Jakaya can be found in the 19th century, when it was mentioned in some historical records and manuscripts from the region. However, it is important to note that written records were not as prevalent in many parts of Africa during that time, so the exact origins and earliest usages of the name may be difficult to pinpoint.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Jakaya. One of the most famous is Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, who served as the fourth President of Tanzania from 2005 to 2015. He was born in 1950 and played a significant role in Tanzania's political landscape during his tenure.
Another prominent figure with the name Jakaya is Jakaya Koo, a Tanzanian politician and member of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. He served as a member of parliament and held various ministerial positions in the Tanzanian government.
In the realm of literature, Jakaya Jaknaikssian is an Armenian-American writer and academic. He has published several books exploring themes of identity, migration, and cultural intersections. Jaknaikssian was born in 1963 in Beirut, Lebanon.
Jakaya Dubu is a Congolese musician and singer-songwriter known for his contributions to the Congolese rumba and soukous genres. He rose to prominence in the 1980s and continues to perform and record music.
Lastly, Jakaya Lubwama is a Ugandan politician and member of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. He has served as a member of parliament and has held various leadership positions within the party.
It is worth noting that while this name has its roots in East Africa, it has gained popularity and usage in other parts of the world as well, particularly among communities with ties to the region or those who appreciate the cultural significance of the name.
People
Jakaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jakaya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jakaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jakaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 217 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jakaya 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 1,579,513 US residents.
Is Jakaya a common name?
We classify Jakaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 220 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jakaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Jakaya was 2002, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jakaya is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jakaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 214 people with the name Jakaya, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,840 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 Jakaya 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 Jakaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jakaya leans strongly female. 206 people counted with this name were female (94.9%), compared with 11 male bearers (5.1%). 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 Jakaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jakaya is Black at 90.7%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Jakaya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jakaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (194 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 Jakaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jakaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jakaya 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 Jakaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jakaya 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 Jakaya 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 Jakaya?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Jakaya at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.