Makhi
A feminine name of Indian origin meaning "fly".
Name Census estimates that about 4,054 living Americans carry the first name Makhi. It is a predominantly male name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Makhi today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makhi births was 2011 (243 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makhi. 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 Makhi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Makhi is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 52 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Makhi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 84,547 Americans
Peak year
2011
243 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,987
Tracked since 1996
Census
Makhi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,695 people with the first name Makhi, which placed it at #6,066 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
#6,066
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,695 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Makhi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makhi is Black at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Hispanic (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 Makhi 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 Makhi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.4% · 2,248
- Two or more races7.8% · 210
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 128
- White3.7% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Makhi
Makhi leans heavily male at 98.7% of total registrations, but 52 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Makhi as a male name
- Ranked #1,987 in 2024
- 78 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (243 births)
Makhi as a female name
- Ranked #15,510 in 2016
- 6 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2007 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makhi leans strongly male. 2,620 people counted with this name were male (97.0%), compared with 81 female bearers (3.0%).
Popularity
Makhi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makhi from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,044 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Makhi 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 Makhi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makhis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Makhi, while Oklahoma, Delaware, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 119 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Makhi
The name Makhi is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, originating from the Middle Eastern region. Historically, it is derived from the Arabic word "makha," which means "to walk" or "to tread." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have initially been associated with concepts of movement, journey, or travel.
In the context of ancient Arabic culture, names often held significant symbolic meaning and were carefully chosen to reflect desired qualities or aspirations for the child. The name Makhi may have been bestowed upon individuals with the hope that they would embark on meaningful journeys, both literal and metaphorical, throughout their lives.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, some historical references can be found in various literary works and chronicles from the Middle Ages. One notable example is Makhi ibn al-Khalil, a renowned Arab mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 9th century CE. His contributions to the fields of algebra and trigonometry were instrumental in advancing scientific knowledge during the Islamic Golden Age.
Another prominent figure bearing the name Makhi was Makhi al-Ahwazi, a 10th-century Persian philosopher and logician. His works, which included commentaries on Aristotelian logic and metaphysics, were highly influential in the intellectual circles of his time.
In the realm of literature, Makhi al-Baghdadi was a celebrated Arabic poet who lived in the 11th century. His poetic works, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, have been widely studied and appreciated throughout the centuries.
Moving forward in history, Makhi al-Ghazzali was a 12th-century Sufi mystic and scholar from Persia. His teachings on Islamic philosophy and spirituality had a profound impact on the development of Sufism and continue to be revered by many Muslims today.
Another notable figure was Makhi al-Arabi, a 13th-century Andalusian poet and philosopher from Spain. His works, which combined elements of Arabic, Hebrew, and Spanish cultures, reflected the rich diversity of the Iberian Peninsula during that era.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Makhi throughout history, each contributing to various fields and leaving their mark on the cultural and intellectual landscapes of their respective eras.
People
Makhi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makhi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Makhi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makhi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,054 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makhi 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 84,547 US residents.
Is Makhi a common name?
We classify Makhi as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,091 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makhi most popular?
The single biggest year for Makhi was 2011, when 243 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makhi is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Makhi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,695 people with the name Makhi, or 0.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,066 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 Makhi 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 Makhi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makhi leans strongly male. 2,620 people counted with this name were male (97.0%), compared with 81 female bearers (3.0%). 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 Makhi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makhi is Black at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Hispanic (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 Makhi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Makhi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.4% (2,248 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 Makhi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makhi a male name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Makhi in the SSA data are male. 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 Makhi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makhi 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 Makhi 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 are called Makhi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.