Shaquilla
Feminine · Arabic roots · “well-formed”
Shaquilla is given to both — 520 girls and 36 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Shaquilla adds a final a to Shaquille, and in doing so lands on the shape Arabic uses for the feminine of the same word: shakil becomes shakila. English and Arabic each make a daughter's form this way, and this spelling sits exactly where the two habits meet.
How old is the name Shaquilla?
Shaquilla first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Shaquilla alive today was born around 1993, making them about 32 years old. About 500 people named Shaquilla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shaquilla most popular?
Shaquilla peaked in 1993, reaching #1554 nationally. See the whole 1993 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From shakil (Arabic) to Shaquilla
The story of Shaquilla
In Arabic most feminine forms are made with a final a: shakil for a man, shakila for a woman, as Karim becomes Karima. English makes the same move with Roberta and Paula. Shaquilla keeps the French-looking qu of Shaquille and then adds the a, so it reaches the Arabic feminine by the English route. Nearly every child given the name is a girl; the few boys on record share the same spelling rather than arriving from a separate source.
Meaningscholars disagree
well-formed, if read through the Arabic shakila
Shaquille is traced to the Arabic shakil, well-formed or handsome, and Shakila is its feminine, so read through Arabic, Shaquilla means the same. Read as an American spelling that adds an a to Shaquille, it carries only the name it was built on. The record does not say which reading a family had in mind.
How the name formed
- shakilArabic
- Shaquille
- Shaquilla
Related forms: Shakila
Pronouncing Shaquilla
shuh-KEE-luh
Stress on the middle syllable, following the KEEL of Shaquille. The doubled l does not shorten the vowel in this name.
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
- 1977
- Most girls named
- 1993100 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1554reached in 1993
- Change vs 2000
- −28.6%5 in 2001, from 7
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.
Shaquilla in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Shakila in Arabic — related form
Shaquillas among us
people named Shaquilla 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
Shaquilla 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
- Its sound follows Shaquille, a name almost every American already knows how to say.
- Lines up with Shakila, the Arabic feminine, so it can be explained in either tradition.
- Rare in its own right despite its famous neighbor.
- Shaquille O'Neal is the association nearly everyone will make first, and it will follow the name for life.
- Arabic-speaking families write the name Shakila, and some will correct the qu toward that spelling.
- A boy with this spelling will usually be read as a girl on paper, since nearly every Shaquilla is one.
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Shaquilla
Feminine · Arabic roots
Frequently asked
- How many Shaquillas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Shaquilla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shaquilla in 2025?
- Shaquilla is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Shaquilla with classmates?
- Shaquilla will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shaquilla? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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