Shakiya
A feminine Arabic name meaning "precious stone" or "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 784 living Americans carry the first name Shakiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shakiya today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakiya births was 2003 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakiya. 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 Shakiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
784
~ 1 in 437,187 Americans
Peak year
2003
50 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2019 SSA rank
#17,597
Tracked since 1978
Census
Shakiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 609 people with the first name Shakiya, which placed it at #17,887 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
#17,887
National first-name rank
People counted
609
609 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shakiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakiya is Black at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and White (1.3%). 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 Shakiya 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 Shakiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.1% · 555
- Two or more races5.4% · 33
- White1.3% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 5
Popularity
Shakiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakiya from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 384 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
Shakiya 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 Shakiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakiyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Georgia, New York, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Shakiya, while Tennessee, Pennsylvania, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shakiya
The name Shakiya has its roots in the Sanskrit language, originating from the Indian subcontinent during ancient times. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "shaki," which means "power" or "strength." The name's earliest origins can be traced back to the Vedic period, around 1500-500 BCE, when it was commonly used in ancient Hindu scriptures and texts.
In the sacred Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, one of the central characters is named Shakya, which is a variant spelling of Shakiya. This epic is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE and is considered one of the most important works of ancient Indian literature. The name Shakya was also associated with the Shakya clan, to which the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, belonged.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shakiya can be found in the Buddhist scripture, the Tripitaka, which dates back to the 3rd century BCE. In this sacred text, Shakiya is mentioned as the name of a disciple of the Buddha. During the Maurya Empire, which ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent from 322-185 BCE, there are records of individuals bearing the name Shakiya.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Shakiya. One of the most famous was Shakiya Pandita, a renowned Buddhist scholar and abbot who lived in the 8th century CE in present-day Bihar, India. He was known for his contributions to Buddhist philosophy and his influential writings on the Madhyamaka school of thought.
Another prominent figure was Shakiya Bhikshu, a Buddhist monk and traveler who lived during the 7th century CE. He is credited with spreading Buddhism to regions of Central Asia and parts of China during his extensive travels. His accounts of his journeys provide valuable insights into the cultural and religious landscape of that era.
In the realm of literature, Shakiya Devi was a celebrated Sanskrit poet who lived in the 11th century CE in what is now Rajasthan, India. Her poetic works, including the "Shakiya Sataka," a collection of verses, were widely acclaimed and influential during her time.
Moving to more recent times, Shakiya Bashir was a prominent Islamic scholar and theologian who lived in the 18th century in the region of modern-day Pakistan. He was known for his contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence and his writings on Islamic philosophy.
Lastly, Shakiya Samad was a pioneering feminist and activist from Bangladesh who fought for women's rights and education in the early 20th century. She founded several schools and organizations dedicated to empowering women and advocating for gender equality.
People
Shakiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakiya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shakiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 784 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakiya 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 437,187 US residents.
Is Shakiya a common name?
We classify Shakiya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 804 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakiya was 2003, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakiya is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shakiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 609 people with the name Shakiya, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,887 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 Shakiya 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 Shakiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakiya appears almost entirely female. Of the 606 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Shakiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakiya is Black at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and White (1.3%). 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 Shakiya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (555 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 Shakiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shakiya 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 Shakiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakiya 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 Shakiya 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 Shakiya as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.