Lakiyah
A feminine name with Arabic origins, meaning "intelligent".
Name Census estimates that about 301 living Americans carry the first name Lakiyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lakiyah today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lakiyah births was 2009 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lakiyah. 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
301
~ 1 in 1,138,719 Americans
Peak year
2009
24 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2020 SSA rank
#14,361
Tracked since 1996
Census
Lakiyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 244 people with the first name Lakiyah, which placed it at #33,765 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
#33,765
National first-name rank
People counted
244
244 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lakiyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lakiyah is Black at 84.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.6%) and White (3.7%). 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 Lakiyah 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 Lakiyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.0% · 205
- Two or more races6.6% · 16
- White3.7% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Lakiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lakiyah 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 147 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
Lakiyah 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 Lakiyah 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 Lakiyah
The name Lakiyah finds its origins in the Arabic language, tracing back to the late medieval period. It is derived from the Arabic word "laqia," which means "to meet" or "to encounter." The name may have been given to children with the hope that they would encounter blessings and good fortune throughout their lives.
Lakiyah was primarily used in regions where Arabic culture and language had a strong influence, such as the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of the Mediterranean. While the name's exact roots are uncertain, it is believed to have emerged during the 12th or 13th century, a time when Arabic culture and literature were flourishing.
Historical records and ancient texts do not provide significant references to the name Lakiyah. It is possible that the name was used more commonly among the general population rather than in religious or literary works of that era.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lakiyah was a 13th-century poet from Andalusia, a region in present-day Spain that was once under Moorish rule. Unfortunately, little is known about her life and works, as her legacy has been largely obscured by time.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Lakiyah al-Qadiri lived in Damascus, Syria. She was a renowned scholar and teacher of Islamic jurisprudence, known for her expertise in the Hanafi school of thought.
During the 19th century, a woman named Lakiyah bint Ali al-Hashimi gained recognition as a philanthropist and advocate for women's education in Cairo, Egypt. She established several schools and contributed significantly to the advancement of educational opportunities for girls in the region.
In the early 20th century, Lakiyah al-Khalidi was a prominent Palestinian educator and writer. Born in Jerusalem in 1892, she played a crucial role in promoting literacy and education among Palestinian women, publishing numerous works on women's rights and empowerment.
Another notable figure was Lakiyah al-Sanusi, a Libyan poet and activist born in Tripoli in 1930. She was a vocal advocate for women's rights and social justice, using her poetry as a platform to raise awareness about various societal issues.
While the name Lakiyah has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world over the centuries, transcending its linguistic and geographical boundaries.
People
Lakiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lakiyah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lakiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lakiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 301 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lakiyah 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 1,138,719 US residents.
Is Lakiyah a common name?
We classify Lakiyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 305 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lakiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Lakiyah was 2009, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lakiyah is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lakiyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 244 people with the name Lakiyah, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,765 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 Lakiyah 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 Lakiyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lakiyah leans strongly female. 234 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Lakiyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lakiyah is Black at 84.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.6%) and White (3.7%). 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 Lakiyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lakiyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.0% (205 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 Lakiyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lakiyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lakiyah 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 Lakiyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lakiyah 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 Lakiyah 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 common is the name Lakiyah?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Lakiyah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.