Meka
Feminine
Meka is a short, bright name of the late sixties and seventies, most likely the back half of Tameka and Shameka given on its own. Said aloud it sounds like Mecca, a city whose name English turned into a common noun.
How old is the name Meka?
Meka first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Meka alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 600 people named Meka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Meka most popular?
Meka peaked in 1972, reaching #2222 nationally. See the whole 1972 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Meka
English took Mecca, the holy city every Muslim faces in prayer, and by the nineteenth century had made it a common noun for any place people flock to: a mecca for artists, a mecca for surfers. Meka was not named for the city; it came from the endings of Tameka and Shameka. But its sound carries that sense of a place people are drawn to.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Meka may be the tail of Tameka or Shameka, and the record holds it alone. It is not documented as related to Mecca.
Pronouncing Meka
MEE-kuh
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
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
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 197234 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2222reached in 1972
- Change vs 2023
- +60.0%8 in 2024, from 5
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.
Mekas among us
people named Meka 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
Meka 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
- Short and bright.
- Easy to spell.
- Rare, so a Meka is unlikely to share her name.
- It will be heard as Mecca, which some families may want to avoid.
- People may assume it is a nickname.
- It has no documented meaning of its own.
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Meka
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Mekas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Meka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Meka in 2025?
- Meka is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Meka with classmates?
- Meka will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Meka? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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