Name Awesome

Nakia

#11,613 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Nakia has been given to 10,744 babies in the U.S. since 1973. In 2025 it ranked #11,613 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1974, with 1,135 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 81% girls, 19% boys all-time.

Babies named Nakia, 2025

1 in 414,000

Nakia over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05001K1.5K18801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Nakia over time

In 2025, Nakia went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19732025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Nakia: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nakia means

Nakia is a given name.

The naming story behind Nakia

Wikidata records Nakia as a unisex given name. The entity identifier is Q16290795, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 8,738 girls were recorded with the name Nakia between 1973 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 1,135 in 1974; its best national rank was #226 in 1974.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #6,546 in 2020 to #11,613 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #7,501 in 2015 to #11,613 in 2025.

In the United States, 2,006 boys were recorded with the name Nakia between 1974 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 613 in 1974; its best national rank was #302 in 1974.

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.

How common is Nakia?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 201,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#11,613
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nakia 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 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nakia. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nakias were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nakia was born before 1983 — so the typical Nakia is around 42 today.

Median birth year
1983
About 42 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
40.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
13.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
8,738
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 40.6% of all recorded uses (3,551).

Is Nakia 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
−3,767
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−5,067
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−4,112
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.50×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
0.70%
Peak was 1974 (1,135)
Years since peak
51
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
43.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#226
1974

Nakia’s breakout year

Among the small set of names that had a single, unmistakable year — a surge well above the years on either side of it.

In 1974, 613 boys were named Nakia — about #302 that year — roughly 5.3× as many as in the surrounding years, before it settled back. What the data can’t say is why; the story behind the year is one you’ll likely recognise. Other one-hit wonders

Spellings of Nakia

Nakia is not the most common spelling — Maria is, with 44.1% against Nakia's 0.68%.

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 Nakia is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Nakia was most concentrated in District of Columbia — about 1 in 3,333 girls, against 1 in 19,970 across all states with data. It was least common in Kansas (1 in —).

030 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1District of Columbia1 in 3,333
  2. 2Maryland1 in 7,692
  3. 3Louisiana1 in 10,000
  4. 4Georgia1 in 12,500
  5. 5Michigan1 in 12,500
  6. 6Alabama1 in 14,286
  7. 7Florida1 in 14,286
  8. 8Illinois1 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. Nakia has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Nakia is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Nakia was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 33,333 boys, against 1 in 121,944 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

03 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Mississippi1 in 33,333
  2. 2Alabama1 in 50,000
  3. 3Georgia1 in 50,000
  4. 4Louisiana1 in 50,000
  5. 5Arkansas1 in 100,000
  6. 6District of Columbia1 in 100,000
  7. 7Delaware1 in 100,000
  8. 8Florida1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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. Nakia has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Nakia around the world

Where Nakia 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
    1996–2001
    #2,466
    in 2001
  • France
    2023–2025
    #6,542
    in 2025
  • South Australia
    1993–2010
    #801
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Nakia

People whose public names include Nakia, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Nakia in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Nakia. Linked forms have their own page here.

Kia

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Nakia by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,613
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 5,067
Best rank ever
#226
1974
Peak year
1974
1,135 that year
First recorded
1973
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
8,738
Count in 2025
8

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#302
1974
Peak year
1974
613 that year
First recorded
1974
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
2,006
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Nakia

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

NakiyaNakkiaZakiaKiaNakaylaNakitaMakiaNikiaNakiyahLakiaNakylaNakyaSaskiaTakiaNakishaNakeyaJakiaShakiaNakiahNykiaMykiaNakoaNakariNakesha

Names with a curve like Nakia

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

ChastityLashondaAmiTeraLakeshaKeshaBrandeeCatrinaMistiKenyattaDustyKisha

Sibling names for Nakia

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 Nakia

Top names of 1974, Nakia's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1974Girls' names starting with N