Mika
Feminine · “beautiful fragrance”
Mika is given to both — 6,752 girls and 1,362 boys since 1880. See Mika as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Mika belongs to four languages at once — Japanese for a beautiful fragrance, Finnish as a form of Michael, Hebrew as a form of Micah, and Russian as a diminutive.
How old is the name Mika?
Mika first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Mika alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 6,600 people named Mika are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mika most popular?
Mika peaked in 2017, reaching #1198 nationally. Today it ranks #1631, 433 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Mika appears on these lists:
Works in Scandinavian families too:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Mika
Mika is an ordinary Japanese girls' name, an ordinary Finnish boys' name, and a short form in Hebrew and Russian — four traditions that arrived at the same four Latin letters independently. Emigration from all four brought it to America, where it appears in the registers rising through the 2000s and is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
beautiful fragrance; who is like God?
Four unrelated routes. The Japanese Mika is written with characters for 'beautiful' and 'fragrance' or 'increase'. The Finnish Mika is a form of Michael, Hebrew for 'who is like God?'. The Hebrew Mikha is Micah. The Russian Mika is a diminutive of Mikhail. None derives from another.
Pronouncing Mika
MEE-kah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Japanese gives both vowels an even weight; English speakers often say MY-kuh.
Nicknames for Mika
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
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 2015201 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1198reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −8.6%127 in 2025, from 139
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.
Mika in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 美香 in Japanese — transliteration
- Mika in Finnish — same name
- Mikha in Hebrew — related form
- Мика in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Mikas among us
people named Mika are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 12,656 born in 2025 was named Mika
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mika
- #1631
- Mika on the 2025 chart
- #486
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mika went to 127 girls in 2025, but Micah, Myka and Mykah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 555, which makes it the 486th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,145 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 2,896 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 12,656 for Mika 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 Jay test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mika's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jay climbed just as high around 1926, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jay's path sketches the road Mika is walking now.
Mika 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 Mika is headed
Mika should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Mika beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mika in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four unrelated living traditions use it, which very few names can say.
- The Japanese beautiful-fragrance reading is concrete and attractive.
- Four letters, two syllables, and never misheard.
- The four origins are entirely unrelated and none is dominant.
- In Finnish it is a masculine name.
- The first vowel splits between the Japanese and English readings.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Mika to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Mika? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Mika
Feminine · #1631 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mikas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,600 people named Mika are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mika?
- Mika is one of 7 recorded spellings. Micah is the more common one — 291 births in 2025 against 127 for Mika.
- How popular is the name Mika in 2025?
- Mika ranks #1631 among US girl names in 2025, with 127 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mika?
- About 1 in every 12,656 US girls born in 2025 was named Mika — 127 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mika with classmates?
- Mika will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mika
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Irina#1631 · Kenley#1631 · Brisa#1631 · Danica#1631 · Yael#1631 · Itzayana#1631 · Elanor#1631 · Arlene#1631
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mika? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mika 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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle