Tykeisha
A feminine name of African American origin meaning "pretty" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 235 living Americans carry the first name Tykeisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tykeisha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tykeisha births was 1993 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tykeisha. 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
235
~ 1 in 1,458,529 Americans
Peak year
1993
19 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2004 SSA rank
#18,661
Tracked since 1973
Census
Tykeisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 193 people with the first name Tykeisha, which placed it at #39,252 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
#39,252
National first-name rank
People counted
193
193 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
93.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tykeisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tykeisha is Black at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and White (1.6%). 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 Tykeisha 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 Tykeisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American93.8% · 181
- Two or more races4.1% · 8
- White1.6% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 1
Popularity
Tykeisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tykeisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 125 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tykeisha 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 Tykeisha 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 Tykeisha
The name Tykeisha is thought to have originated in West Africa, specifically among the Yoruba people of present-day Nigeria. It is a combination of two words from the Yoruba language: "tye" meaning "to walk" and "keisha" meaning "victorious" or "triumphant." Together, the name Tykeisha can be interpreted as "one who walks victoriously" or "triumphant walker."
While the exact origins of the name are unclear, it is believed to have first emerged among the Yoruba people in the 15th or 16th century. The Yoruba culture has a rich history of naming traditions, with names often reflecting personal qualities, circumstances surrounding birth, or aspirations for the child's future.
The earliest known record of the name Tykeisha dates back to the late 19th century, when it was documented in West African communities. However, it was not until the mid-20th century that the name gained popularity in the United States, particularly among African American families.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tykeisha. One of the earliest known was Tykeisha Afolabi, a Yoruba trader and merchant who lived in the early 18th century and was renowned for her business acumen and success in navigating the complex trade routes of West Africa.
Another notable figure was Tykeisha Ogunlesi, a Nigerian poet and activist who lived in the late 19th century. She was known for her powerful poetry that celebrated African culture and challenged colonial oppression. Her works were influential in the early African literary renaissance.
In the 20th century, Tykeisha Harris was a prominent civil rights activist and community organizer in the United States. Born in 1932, she played a significant role in the Montgomery bus boycott and worked tirelessly to advance racial equality and social justice.
Tykeisha Ayodele was a Nigerian sculptor and artist who lived from 1945 to 2005. Her intricate wooden sculptures, often depicting scenes from Yoruba mythology and folklore, were highly regarded and exhibited in galleries around the world.
More recently, Tykeisha Jackson was a renowned American basketball player who excelled in both college and professional leagues. Born in 1980, she was a standout at the University of Connecticut and went on to play in the WNBA, earning multiple All-Star selections and a championship title.
While the name Tykeisha has its roots in West Africa and the Yoruba culture, it has gained global recognition and popularity, transcending its origins to become a name celebrated and embraced by diverse communities worldwide.
People
Tykeisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tykeisha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tykeisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tykeisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 235 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tykeisha 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 1,458,529 US residents.
Is Tykeisha a common name?
We classify Tykeisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 246 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tykeisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Tykeisha was 1993, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tykeisha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tykeisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 193 people with the name Tykeisha, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,252 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 Tykeisha 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 Tykeisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tykeisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 191 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 Tykeisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tykeisha is Black at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and White (1.6%). 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 Tykeisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tykeisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.8% (181 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 Tykeisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tykeisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tykeisha 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 Tykeisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tykeisha 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 Tykeisha 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 Tykeisha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.