Chaka
Feminine
Chaka is given to both — 841 girls and 262 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Chaka arrived in the American record in a single pair of years, and the cause is a singer who was given the name at a ceremony in her teens and kept it for the rest of her life.
How old is the name Chaka?
Chaka first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Chaka alive today was born around 1978, making them about 47 years old. About 800 people named Chaka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Chaka most popular?
Chaka peaked in 1976, reaching #897 nationally. See the whole 1976 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Chaka
A name can enter a language through one person and stay attached to them. A teenage singer working in Chicago was given this name in a naming ceremony connected to the Black Arts movement of the period, used it professionally from her first records, and became famous enough within two years that the name appears in the national birth record on her schedule rather than on anybody else's. That is as clean a cause as the data ever shows. What it also shows is the limit of the effect: the name rises with her first album, holds for a couple of years, and settles back — visible, permanent, and small.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name was given as an African name in an American context, and the reading usually reported for it is fire or woman of fire. It is not the name of the Zulu king, which is spelled differently and is a separate word.
Pronouncing Chaka
SHAH-kuh
Two syllables, stress at the front. The ch is said as sh, not as the ch of church.
Nicknames for Chaka
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1974
- Most girls named
- 1976147 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #897reached in 1976
- Change vs 1990
- −25.0%6 in 1991, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Chakas among us
people named Chaka are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Chaka sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, strong and memorable.
- It carries a specific and admired bearer.
- The sounds are all available in English.
- The ch will be read as the ch of church by anybody meeting it cold.
- Most children with this spelling are girls, but a real minority are boys; either may be taken for the other.
- It is inseparable from one famous person.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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Chaka
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Chakas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Chaka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Chaka in 2025?
- Chaka is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Chaka with classmates?
- Chaka will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Chaka? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Chaka and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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