Makayla
Makayla was the 568th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 530 babies. Its best year was 2008, when it ranked 37th with 5,957 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 425 places. More babies were named Makayla in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Meaning variant of Michaela · Hebrew, American English
Say it muh-KAY-luh /məˈkeɪlə/
- Rank in 2025
- #568 girls, down 243 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 530girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20085,957 babies
- Total since 1880
- 108,183babies recorded
What does the name Makayla mean?
Makayla is a modern American spelling of Michaela, according to Wiktionary, shaped by the sound of names such as Kayla. Michaela is the Latinate feminine of Michael, which DMNES derives from Hebrew Mikha'el, "who is like God?". Makayla appears in US records from the 1970s and was most popular in the 1990s and 2000s.
מִיכָאֵל (Biblical Hebrew, “who is like God?”)
How sure is this? Probable. A respelling of Michaela; its meaning is Michael's.
Related names: Michaela, Mikayla, Kayla, Michael.
See also: Hebrew names, names that mean God.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Makayla', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Michaela', DMNES, Durham University
- Wiktionary, entry 'Michaela', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
Nicknames for Makayla
The usual nicknames for Makayla are Kayla. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Makayla in the last five years, 147 were named Kayla, against 189 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kayla · also for Michaela, Mikayla | Modern | #364 | 5,075 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Makaylas go by each one.
Makayla popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 153 since 1997.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #568 | 530 |
| 2020 | #325 | 954 |
| 2010 | #43 | 5,397 |
| 2000 | #67 | 4,917 |
| 1990 | #797 | 252 |
| 1980 | #4,238 | 18 |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Makayla, counting every spelling?
Makayla is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #526 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #568 for Makayla on its own. Together these spellings went to 578 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Makayla | 530 | #568 | 3,452 |
| Makaylah | 14 | #7,735 | 110 |
| Makaila | 12 | #8,666 | 93 |
| Makaela | 13 | #8,162 | 81 |
| Mackayla | 9 | #10,580 | 55 |
| Macayla | — | — | 26 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Makayla?
530 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Makayla (0.15 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Makayla born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 16 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Makayla.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Makayla?
About 106,900 people born in the US named Makayla are alive today, with a median age of 20; half are between 16 and 25. That makes Makayla mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Makayla by state
How common Makayla was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Mississippi (2.9×), Maryland (1.9×), New Jersey (1.9×), Georgia (1.7×), Alabama (1.6×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Kansas, Idaho, Missouri.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Makayla: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Makayla, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Makayla · Sibling names for Makayla
Questions about the name Makayla
What does Makayla mean?
Makayla means “variant of Michaela” (Hebrew, American English origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Makayla?
Makayla was the 568th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 530 babies. Its best year was 2008, when it ranked 37th with 5,957 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 425 places. More babies were named Makayla in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Is Makayla a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Makayla in the US.
Where is Makayla most popular?
In 2021–2025, Makayla was most common in Mississippi (1.24 per 1,000 girls), followed by Delaware and Maryland.