Mecca
Masculine
Mecca is given to both — 830 boys and 2,288 girls since 1880. See Mecca as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Mecca is the city Muslims turn toward five times a day, and its name in English has come to mean any place people are drawn to.
How old is the name Mecca?
Mecca first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Mecca is a kid of about 4 — this name's wave is very recent. About 800 people named Mecca are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mecca most popular?
Mecca peaked in 2023, reaching #1608 nationally. Today it ranks #2108, 500 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Makkah to Mecca
The story of Mecca
Mecca holds the Kaaba, and the pilgrimage there is one of the five pillars of Islam; the city's name entered English as a common noun for any place of resort. Where the name itself comes from, nobody knows. The given name appears in American records for both sexes and is in current use.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The city's name has no recovered etymology. Proposals connect it to a South Arabian word for a sanctuary or to the Babylonian mahrab. The Qur'an calls it Bakkah in one verse, which is itself unexplained. The English generic sense of 'a mecca' is a nineteenth-century extension.
How the name formed
- Makkah
- Mecca
Related forms: مكة · Makkah
Pronouncing Mecca
MEK-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Arabic Makkah has a doubled k English drops.
Nicknames for Mecca
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
- 1975
- Most boys named
- 2023108 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1608reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −24.2%69 in 2025, from 91
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.
Mecca in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- مكة in Arabic — transliteration
- Makkah in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Meccas among us
people named Mecca are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 24,755 born in 2025 was named Mecca
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Armondo test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mecca's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Armondo climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Armondo's path sketches the road Mecca is walking now.
Mecca 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
Where Mecca is headed
Mecca looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 23% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Mecca beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mecca in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That a city name became an ordinary English noun is a genuinely good fact.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It is immediately recognized everywhere.
- The city's own name has no recovered meaning.
- It is a sacred place name and some will find the use uncomfortable.
- It is used for both sexes in America.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Mecca to the vote.
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What they receive
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Mecca
Masculine · #2108 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Meccas 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 Mecca are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mecca in 2025?
- Mecca ranks #2108 among US boy names in 2025, with 69 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mecca?
- About 1 in every 24,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Mecca — 69 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mecca with classmates?
- Mecca will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mecca
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ayven#2108 · Artist#2108 · Khyrie#2108 · Darryl#2108 · Armoni#2108 · Aero#2108 · Cai#2108 · Ansh#2108
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mecca? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mecca and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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