Fun Facts About the Name Akeelah
- More than 1 thousand babies named Akeelah: U.S. records list 1,532 babies given the name Akeelah from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Akeelah Mean?
Akeelah is an English spelling of the Arabic feminine name usually written Akilah, Aqila, or Aqeela, from Arabic ʿAqīla (عقيلة). The name comes from the root ʿ-q-l, whose basic sense has to do with binding or tying - the same root gives the noun ʿaql, "intellect" or "reason," and the verb "to understand." The customary translation of the name is therefore "intelligent" or "wise," sometimes given as "one who understands."
In Arabic the word ʿaqīla has also been used for a woman of high standing within a group, and it can carry the sense of "wife." Those are lexical meanings of the word rather than the meaning normally assigned to the personal name, which is the intellectual one. The masculine form of the same root, ʿAqīl, follows the same pattern, and the feminine ending is what distinguishes the name given to girls.
Akeelah Name History & Origins
The name belongs to the Arabic naming stock that spread with Islam. Because Arabic was the language of religion and learning in Muslim societies, names built on ʿ-q-l appear far beyond the Arabian Peninsula, including in North and East Africa. In Swahili-speaking parts of East Africa, where Arabic and local naming customs met, forms such as Akilah are used alongside Arabic names of other roots.
The masculine ʿAqīl was borne by ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib, a companion of Muhammad and brother of ʿAlī, which shows the root in use in early Islamic Arabia; the feminine ʿAqīla belongs to the same pattern. Transliteration into Latin letters varies widely, since Arabic short vowels are normally left unwritten: Aqila, Aqeela, Akilah, Akeela, and Akeelah all represent the same name, with the ee spellings reflecting the long vowel in the second syllable and the final -h reflecting a common way of writing the Arabic feminine ending.
In the United States the name appears mainly from the twentieth century onward, part of a broader use of Arabic and African-derived names among African American families. The spelling Akeelah gained wide recognition through the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee, whose main character bears it. That is a well-known modern use of an existing name and spelling, not the point at which the name began.
How Popular is the Name Akeelah?
Akeelah recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2006. Its best rank was #708 in 2006.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #7,146 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2024 | #5,784 | 21 | 0.0013% |
| 2023 | #5,967 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 2022 | #5,314 | 24 | 0.0015% |
| 2021 | #4,834 | 27 | 0.0016% |
| 2020 | #5,491 | 22 | 0.0014% |
| 2019 | #4,548 | 30 | 0.0018% |
| 2018 | #3,790 | 39 | 0.0023% |
| 2017 | #4,577 | 30 | 0.0017% |
| 2016 | #4,252 | 34 | 0.0019% |
| 2015 | #3,992 | 37 | 0.0021% |
| 2014 | #4,271 | 34 | 0.0019% |
| 2013 | #3,783 | 40 | 0.0023% |
| 2012 | #3,915 | 39 | 0.0022% |
| 2011 | #2,944 | 58 | 0.0033% |
| 2010 | #2,094 | 94 | 0.0053% |
| 2009 | #1,758 | 124 | 0.0068% |
| 2008 | #1,469 | 160 | 0.0085% |
| 2007 | #1,054 | 249 | 0.0130% |
| 2006 | #708 | 403 | 0.0212% |
| 2002 | #13,642 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #9,830 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1996 | #11,843 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1995 | #13,440 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #9,696 | 7 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Akeelah Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Akeelah's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Akeelah's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.