Given name
Makayla
“who is like God?”
In English use, Makayla has a related form in Michaela. In Celtic, Hebrew, English use, Michaela carries the interpretation “who is like God?.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Makayla has a related form in Michaela. In Celtic, Hebrew, English use, Michaela carries the interpretation “who is like God?.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Makayla is a form of Michaela. Michaela comes from Portuguese, and ultimately from Spanish.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1971. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Makayla through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 108,183
- 153 boys · 108,030 girls
- Most popular year
- 2008
- 5,963 babies
- 2025
- 530
- #568 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −51%
- Cooling
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 530 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 568 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 51.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 5,957 in 2008. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (66). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 87,622 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Makayla’s family of names
In English usage, Makayla has a related form in Michaela. In English usage, Makayla has a related form in Michaela. In English usage, Makayla has a related form in Mikayla.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 17
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Makayla
- Makayla Gerken SchofieldBritish freestyle skierborn 1999
- Makayla GreenwoodAmerican taekwondo practitionerborn 2003
- Makayla MalakaNigerian singer and songwriter (born 2012)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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