Makylah
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly a variant of Michaela.
Name Census estimates that about 537 living Americans carry the first name Makylah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Makylah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makylah births was 2010 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makylah. 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
537
~ 1 in 638,276 Americans
Peak year
2010
43 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,727
Tracked since 1997
Census
Makylah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 402 people with the first name Makylah, which placed it at #24,093 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
#24,093
National first-name rank
People counted
402
402 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Makylah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makylah is Black at 61.2%. The next largest groups are White (15.9%) and Two or More Races (14.9%). 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 Makylah 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 Makylah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.2% · 246
- White15.9% · 64
- Two or more races14.9% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Makylah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makylah 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 267 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
Makylah 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 Makylah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makylahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Illinois, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Makylah, while Mississippi, Georgia, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Makylah
The name Makylah is of relatively recent origin and appears to be an anglicized form of the Arabic name Makhila. The name Makhila itself is derived from the Arabic word "makhlah," which means "creation" or "creature." This suggests that the name Makylah may have been influenced by the Arabic language and culture.
The earliest known usage of the name Makylah can be traced back to the late 20th century, particularly in English-speaking countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. It is possible that the name was created as a unique and distinctive variation of more traditional names like Michaela or Mikayla.
While the name Makylah does not have a long historical record, there are a few notable individuals who have carried this name. One of the earliest recorded examples is Makylah Bray, an American actress born in 1997, who has appeared in several television shows and films.
Another individual with this name is Makylah Coley, an American track and field athlete who specializes in hurdling events. She competed for the University of Arkansas and was a member of the school's nationally ranked track and field team.
In the literary world, Makylah Merrigan is a contemporary American author known for her young adult fiction novels. Her works often explore themes of identity, relationships, and self-discovery.
On the musical front, Makylah Jade is an American singer-songwriter who gained popularity through social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok. She is known for her soulful and emotional performances.
Lastly, Makylah Boudreaux is a former American basketball player who played for the University of South Carolina from 2015 to 2019. She was a key contributor to the team's success during her collegiate career.
While the name Makylah may be relatively new, it has already found a place in various fields, from entertainment to sports and literature. As a unique and distinctive name, it is likely that more individuals will embrace it in the future, potentially adding to its historical significance.
People
Makylah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makylah 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
Makylah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makylah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 537 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makylah 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 638,276 US residents.
Is Makylah a common name?
We classify Makylah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 543 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makylah most popular?
The single biggest year for Makylah was 2010, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makylah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Makylah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 402 people with the name Makylah, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,093 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 Makylah 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 Makylah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Makylah appears almost entirely female. Of the 404 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Makylah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makylah is Black at 61.2%. The next largest groups are White (15.9%) and Two or More Races (14.9%). 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 Makylah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Makylah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.2% (246 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 Makylah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makylah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Makylah 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 Makylah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makylah 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 Makylah 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 Makylah as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Makylah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.