Makayla

What Makayla means

Form of Michael, meaning “who is like God?”

variant of Michaela || From Middle English Michael, from Old French Michel, Old English Michahel, from their source Latin Michaēl, Michāhēl, from Ancient Greek Μῐχᾱήλ (Mĭkhāḗl), from Biblical Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (mîḵāʾēl, literally “who is like God?”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Makayla” (revision 83830546) and “Michael” (revision 94541667), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Makayla?

US: Falling: down from #143 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #1549 in 2015, #1407 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2008, when 5,957 girls got the name (#37 that year). First in the US records in 1971.

How common

• About 1 in 3,033 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 11,513 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MD (0.85 per 1,000 girls), NV (0.76 per 1,000 girls), GA (0.69 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Makayla is #566 in the US and #1407 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Makayla were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Mikayla364 US · 36 E&W
• Mikaela241 US · 26 E&W
• Makyla23 US
• Mikeyla18 US
• Makaylah14 US
• Makaela13 US
• Makaila12 US
• Makaylee11 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Makayla

Girls

• Abigail#41“my Father's joy”^*
• Annika#995Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 1,089 babies; 254 in 2025
• Daniela#302Form of Daniel, meaning “God is my judge”^*
• Isabel#176“my God is an oath”^*
• Jordyn#371Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #136 in 2015, #371 in 2025
• Gabriella#105Editor’s note Down from #54 in 2015 to #105 in 2025 in the US

For a brother

• Caleb#58possibly “dog”^*
• Kaleb#295“dog”^*
• Issac#915Variant of Isaac, meaning “he laughs, he will laugh”^*
• Saul#557Editor’s note Down from #494 in 2015 to #557 in 2025 in the US
• Emanuel#574Spanish, meaning “God is with us”^*
• Nathanael#632“God has given”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Makayla’s. Rank is US 2025.