Makaya
Feminine · “Hebrew mi kayahu”
Micaiah told a king the truth and was jailed for it. Four hundred prophets promised Ahab a victory, one said he would die, and the name of that one is the same name as Michael.
How old is the name Makaya?
Makaya first appears in US birth records in 1990 — 35 years ago. The typical Makaya alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 1,000 people named Makaya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Makaya most popular?
Makaya peaked in 2002, reaching #2467 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 8,450 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Mikayahu to Makaya
The story of Makaya
The scene in the first book of Kings is one of the sharpest in the Hebrew Bible. Ahab and Jehoshaphat consult four hundred prophets who all promise success; Jehoshaphat asks whether there is not one more, and Ahab says there is, Micaiah son of Imlah, but that he never prophesies anything good. Micaiah is fetched, mocks the official answer, then delivers the real one, describes a vision of a lying spirit sent to deceive the other prophets, is struck in the face and imprisoned on bread and water. Ahab goes to battle in disguise and is killed by an arrow shot at random. The name means who is like Yah, the same rhetorical question as Michael, with the divine name spelled out.
Meaningscholars disagree
Hebrew mi kayahu, who is like Yah
Makaya may be an American spelling of Micaiah, a Hebrew name meaning who is like Yah, built like Michael with the divine name in full. It is equally likely to be a respelling of Makayla or Makaia. The peak is 2002.
How the name formed
- Mikayahu
- Micaiah
- Makaya
Related forms: Micaiah · Makaia
Pronouncing Makaya
muh-KY-uh
Three syllables, stress on the second. Micaiah is often given four syllables in Bible reading.
Nicknames for Makaya
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
- 1990
- Most girls named
- 200771 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2467reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- −27.3%8 in 2025, from 11
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.
Makaya in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Micaiah in English — related form
- Makaia in English — spelling variant
Makayas among us
people named Makaya are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Makaya
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Makaya
- #10917
- Makaya on the 2025 chart
- #896
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Makaya went to 8 girls in 2025, but Makaia, Makaiah and Macaya and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 64, which makes it the 896th most-given girls’ name of the year — 10,021 places above the chart.
- Makaia18
- Makaiah17
- Macaya14
- Makaya8
- Makaiya7
About 1 girl in 25,114 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 200,908 for Makaya itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Charmian test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Makaya's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Charmian climbed just as high around 1923, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Charmian's path sketches the road Makaya is walking now.
Makaya sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Makaya beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Makaya in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kaya works as a short form and is a current name.
- Three open syllables with a clear stress.
- The Hebrew name behind one reading is documented.
- Its source cannot be determined between two possibilities.
- It will be heard as Makayla or Kaya.
- The 2002 peak dates it closely.
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Makaya
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Makayas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Makaya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Makaya?
- Makaya is one of 5 recorded spellings. Makaia is the more common one — 18 births in 2025 against 8 for Makaya.
- How popular is the name Makaya in 2025?
- Makaya ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Makaya?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Makaya — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Makaya with classmates?
- Makaya will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Makaya
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Makaya? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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