Fun Facts About the Name Baraka
- 416 babies named Baraka: U.S. records list 416 babies given the name Baraka from 1880 through 2025. Even 23 girls received the name Baraka - about 1 girl for every 17 boys.
What Does the Name Baraka Mean?
Baraka is a name of Arabic origin meaning "blessing" or "divine grace." It comes from the Arabic noun baraka (بركة), formed from the root b-r-k, which conveys the idea of blessing or benediction. In Arabic, the word is a feminine noun, and the same root produces related words such as mubarak ("blessed") and tabarruk ("seeking blessing"). The name is the word itself used as a personal name. In Swahili, baraka was borrowed from Arabic and means "blessing," "good fortune," or "prosperity"; this is the sense the name carries in East African usage. A related Hebrew noun, berakhah (בְּרָכָה), also means "blessing" and comes from a cognate Semitic root, but Baraka as a name is Arabic, and its later Swahili use derives from Arabic.
Baraka Name History & Origins
The word baraka is old in Arabic and central to Islamic religious vocabulary, where it refers to blessing, grace, or spiritual power believed to come from God. In Islamic tradition, one early bearer of the name was Baraka bint Tha'labah, known as Umm Ayman, a companion of Muhammad. Her name shows the word in use as a personal name in the earliest Islamic period, though the account comes from religious-historical tradition rather than a modern civil record.
As Arabic spread with Islam, baraka entered the vocabulary of other languages. Swahili, spoken along the East African coast, borrowed the word from Arabic and uses it to mean "blessing" or "good fortune." From there it became a personal name in East Africa, especially in Tanzania, Kenya, and nearby regions, and it is also found in other Muslim communities. Related Arabic names include Mubarak ("blessed") and Barakat ("blessings").
The American writer Amiri Baraka (1934 - 2014), born Everett LeRoi Jones, adopted Amiri Baraka as a name in the 1960s. This is a modern literary and political association, not the origin of the name.
How Popular is the Name Baraka?
Baraka 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 2025. Its best rank was #2,161 in 1972.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | #15,893 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #16,955 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1981 | #7,459 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1973 | #8,529 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #4,263 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 2024 | #5,451 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2023 | #4,761 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 2022 | #5,463 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2021 | #4,256 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 2020 | #5,735 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2019 | #6,134 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2018 | #6,384 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2017 | #4,761 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2016 | #5,582 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2015 | #6,031 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2014 | #9,749 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2013 | #7,079 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2011 | #9,726 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2010 | #9,802 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2009 | #9,979 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2008 | #5,517 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2007 | #6,663 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2006 | #5,097 | 17 | 0.0008% |
| 2005 | #5,906 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2004 | #7,025 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2003 | #7,920 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #8,539 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #10,737 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #10,060 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #8,582 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #9,411 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1995 | #8,993 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1981 | #6,366 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1976 | #4,040 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1974 | #4,686 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1973 | #4,094 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1972 | #2,161 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 1971 | #4,428 | 6 | 0.0003% |
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 Baraka Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. 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.
✦ Baraka's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Baraka's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.