Fun Facts About the Name Akiva
- More than 2 thousand babies named Akiva: U.S. records list 2,927 babies given the name Akiva from 1880 through 2025. Even 138 girls received the name Akiva - about 1 girl for every 20 boys.
What Does the Name Akiva Mean?
Akiva (Hebrew עֲקִיבָא, also transliterated Akiba) is a Hebrew name built on the root עק״ב, whose basic sense is "heel." The noun עָקֵב (ʿaqev) means "heel," and the verb from the same root can mean "to grasp or follow at the heel." Read literally, the name points to the heel, or to seizing the heel - the image of someone close behind, holding on.
That root is the same one behind the biblical name Yaʿaqov (Jacob), which Genesis 25:26 explains with the phrase "he grasped his brother's heel." Because the two names share this root, Akiva is sometimes given the customary gloss "supplanter," the traditional reading of Jacob's name. That is an interpretation carried over from the better-known name, not an independent origin for Akiva.
The exact derivation of the name is not fully settled. Most explanations treat it as a form of the "heel" root; other suggestions link it to different Hebrew roots or to a longer original name, but those are not well documented. The similar-looking name Akavia (Akavyah), borne by a different early rabbi, is generally treated as a separate name.
Akiva Name History & Origins
The name Akiva is chiefly associated with Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef (about 50 - 135 CE), one of the central teachers of the Mishnaic period. Traditional accounts describe him as a shepherd who began studying Torah at about the age of forty, encouraged by his wife, Rachel, and who became a leading authority whose students helped shape the Mishnah. He backed the Bar Kokhba revolt against Roman rule and, in rabbinic tradition, was put to death for continuing to teach Torah when it was forbidden.
The name is written עֲקִיבָא when vocalized and עקיבא in the unvocalized spelling of rabbinic texts. The letter ב without a dot has the sound "v" in Hebrew, which is why the modern transliteration is Akiva; older European scholarship used Akiba, rendering the same letter as "b." Both forms refer to the same name and the same person.
Akiva continued to be used as a Hebrew name in later Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East, and appears in Yiddish-speaking circles as well. The 19th-century rabbi and legal authority Akiva Eiger (1761 - 1837), a leading figure in Polish and German Jewry, is one documented later bearer. In the modern period the name is used in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora; among contemporary public figures, the screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and the filmmaker Akiva Schaffer carry it.
How Popular is the Name Akiva?
Akiva has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2020. Its best rank was #1,263 in 2020.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | #15,265 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2019 | #11,397 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2018 | #13,866 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2016 | #16,332 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2013 | #12,020 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2011 | #12,208 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2008 | #12,615 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2007 | #13,991 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2006 | #15,208 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #14,562 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2004 | #16,195 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #13,911 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2002 | #11,151 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #11,424 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #8,023 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1997 | #10,875 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1996 | #8,832 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1995 | #8,094 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1973 | #6,087 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,466 | 121 | 0.0071% |
| 2024 | #1,518 | 116 | 0.0068% |
| 2023 | #1,446 | 125 | 0.0073% |
| 2022 | #1,562 | 113 | 0.0065% |
| 2021 | #1,583 | 109 | 0.0062% |
| 2020 | #1,263 | 145 | 0.0084% |
| 2019 | #1,887 | 79 | 0.0044% |
| 2018 | #1,823 | 83 | 0.0046% |
| 2017 | #1,611 | 99 | 0.0054% |
| 2016 | #1,675 | 94 | 0.0050% |
| 2015 | #2,020 | 71 | 0.0037% |
| 2014 | #1,729 | 87 | 0.0045% |
| 2013 | #1,625 | 94 | 0.0050% |
| 2012 | #1,891 | 76 | 0.0040% |
| 2011 | #1,884 | 74 | 0.0039% |
| 2010 | #1,851 | 78 | 0.0041% |
| 2009 | #1,839 | 80 | 0.0040% |
| 2008 | #1,736 | 87 | 0.0043% |
| 2007 | #2,235 | 59 | 0.0028% |
| 2006 | #2,403 | 51 | 0.0025% |
| 2005 | #1,813 | 71 | 0.0036% |
| 2004 | #2,240 | 51 | 0.0026% |
| 2003 | #2,350 | 45 | 0.0023% |
| 2002 | #2,373 | 43 | 0.0022% |
| 2001 | #1,912 | 57 | 0.0029% |
| 2000 | #2,425 | 39 | 0.0020% |
| 1999 | #1,997 | 48 | 0.0025% |
| 1998 | #2,349 | 37 | 0.0019% |
| 1997 | #1,965 | 46 | 0.0024% |
| 1996 | #2,254 | 36 | 0.0019% |
| 1995 | #2,444 | 31 | 0.0016% |
| 1994 | #2,619 | 28 | 0.0014% |
| 1993 | #2,399 | 31 | 0.0016% |
| 1992 | #2,834 | 24 | 0.0012% |
| 1991 | #2,546 | 27 | 0.0013% |
| 1990 | #2,954 | 21 | 0.0010% |
| 1989 | #2,907 | 21 | 0.0010% |
| 1988 | #2,683 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 1987 | #2,838 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1986 | #3,133 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1985 | #2,506 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1984 | #2,532 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1983 | #2,790 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1982 | #3,485 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1981 | #3,222 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1980 | #2,284 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 1979 | #3,172 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1978 | #2,473 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 1977 | #3,040 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1976 | #3,096 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1975 | #2,755 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 1974 | #3,561 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1973 | #1,586 | 30 | 0.0019% |
| 1972 | #3,346 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1971 | #3,969 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1969 | #3,946 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1961 | #4,071 | 5 | 0.0002% |
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 Akiva 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.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Akiva's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Akiva's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.