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Mckayla

#3,197 in 2025Girls' name

Who is like God?, through Michaela

Mckayla has been given to 13,230 babies in the U.S. since 1979. In 2025 it ranked #3,197 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1998, with 769 recorded.

Babies named Mckayla, 2025

1 in 66,300

Mckayla over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Mckayla: meaning, origin, and history

Who is like God?, through Michaela

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Mckayla means

Mckayla belongs to the name family reached through Mckayla → Michaela → Michael. Its meaning is “who is like God?”.

Origin, language, and formation

Mckayla is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Michaela and Michael.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 13,225 girls were recorded with the name Mckayla between 1979 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 769 in 1998; its best national rank was #370 in 1998.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,836 in 2020 to #3,197 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,015 in 2015 to #3,197 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Mckayla between 2004 and 2004. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2004; its best national rank was #12,563 in 2004.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Mckayla?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 66,300
50 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 32,100
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,197
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
45,959 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Mckayla sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 45,959 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Mckayla. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Mckaylas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Mckayla was born before 2003 — so the typical Mckayla is around 22 today.

Median birth year
2003
About 22 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
43.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
64.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
13,225
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 43.1% of all recorded uses (5,705).

Is Mckayla rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−769
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,361
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,182
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.19×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
6.5%
Peak was 1998 (769)
Years since peak
27
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
17.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#370
1998

Spellings of Mckayla

Mckayla is not the most common spelling — Kayla is, with 55.9% against Mckayla's 2.1%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Mckayla is used

Across 2016–2025, Mckayla was most concentrated in New Jersey — about 1 in 5,000 girls, against 1 in 14,771 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in 50,000).

220 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New Jersey1 in 5,000
  2. 2New York1 in 9,091
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in 10,000
  4. 4California1 in 14,286
  5. 5Florida1 in 14,286
  6. 6Georgia1 in 14,286
  7. 7Illinois1 in 14,286
  8. 8Texas1 in 14,286

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Mckayla around the world

Where Mckayla ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2001–2025
    #3,705
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2011–2011
    #810
    in 2011
  • Canada
    1993–2024
    #2,104
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1996–2001
    #711
    in 2001

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Mckayla by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,197
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,361
Best rank ever
#370
1998
Peak year
1998
769 that year
First recorded
1979
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
13,225
Count in 2025
50

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#12,563
2004
Peak year
2004
5 that year
First recorded
2004
Last recorded
2004
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Mckayla

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

MckinleyMckennaMckenziJakaylaMckenzieMikaylaMckylaSkylaMykaylaShaylaMckinleeCaylaLeylaKeylaSheylaNakaylaShylaMakaylaTwylaTaylaNikaylaMakylaJanylaMarkayla

Names with a curve like Mckayla

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Mckayla, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

ShyanneTamiaKaileeHaleighSydneeMaceyCheyanneHaileeSavanahBryannaKayleyKaylah

Sibling names for Mckayla

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Mckayla

Top names of 1998, Mckayla's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1998Girls' names starting with M