Fun Facts About the Name Mecca
- More than 3 thousand babies named Mecca: U.S. records list 3,116 babies given the name Mecca from 1880 through 2025. Even 828 boys received the name Mecca - about 1 boy for every 3 girls.
What Does the Name Mecca Mean?
Mecca is the English form of Arabic Makkah (مكة), the city in western Saudi Arabia that is the holiest site in Islam. The name came into English through Greek and Latin renderings of the Arabic. It is a place name rather than a word with a settled dictionary meaning, and the origin of the Arabic form is not agreed on.
One explanation connects Makkah with the Arabic root m-k-k, whose basic sense is "to suck" or "to draw out," and which also carries the idea of diminishing or draining. Another explanation ties the name to Bakkah, the form used in the Quran (3:96) for the site of the sacred House, and links it to a root meaning "to press together" or "to crowd," an image sometimes associated with the throngs of pilgrims. From that same root, traditional accounts also draw the sense "to weep" or "to humble oneself," which is why Makkah is occasionally glossed in religious writing as the place that humbles pride. These are competing proposals, not settled findings, and the pre-Islamic sense of the name is not known with confidence.
Mecca Name History & Origins
Mecca is an old settlement and caravan stop in the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula. Islamic tradition connects its sanctuary, the Kaaba, to Abraham and Ishmael, and by the sixth century CE the city was controlled by the Quraysh tribe and served as a pilgrimage and trading center. Muhammad was born there around 570, left for Medina in 622 in the migration known as the hijra, and returned at the head of his followers in 630, after which the Kaaba became the focal point of Islamic pilgrimage.
As a personal name, Mecca belongs to the broad English habit of turning place names into given names, and it is used occasionally in the United States, mostly for girls; it also occurs as a surname. It is not a traditional Arabic personal name, since in Arabic the word is reserved for the holy city itself, so the given name is essentially an English-language development built on the place name.
English also uses the lowercase common noun mecca for any place that draws devoted visitors, a figurative extension of the pilgrimage that was already current in the nineteenth century.
How Popular is the Name Mecca?
Mecca 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 2023. Its best rank was #1,616 in 2023.
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 | #5,182 | 25 | 0.0016% |
| 2024 | #3,352 | 47 | 0.0029% |
| 2023 | #3,002 | 56 | 0.0035% |
| 2022 | #3,349 | 48 | 0.0029% |
| 2021 | #3,777 | 40 | 0.0024% |
| 2020 | #2,701 | 62 | 0.0038% |
| 2019 | #3,429 | 46 | 0.0027% |
| 2018 | #3,900 | 38 | 0.0022% |
| 2017 | #4,047 | 37 | 0.0021% |
| 2016 | #4,407 | 33 | 0.0019% |
| 2015 | #6,171 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 2014 | #5,119 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 2013 | #6,926 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2012 | #7,358 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2011 | #8,065 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2010 | #8,164 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2009 | #6,024 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 2008 | #4,518 | 34 | 0.0018% |
| 2007 | #5,053 | 29 | 0.0015% |
| 2006 | #3,400 | 48 | 0.0025% |
| 2005 | #3,626 | 41 | 0.0022% |
| 2004 | #3,547 | 42 | 0.0023% |
| 2003 | #3,852 | 36 | 0.0020% |
| 2002 | #3,000 | 49 | 0.0027% |
| 2001 | #2,999 | 48 | 0.0027% |
| 2000 | #2,448 | 63 | 0.0035% |
| 1999 | #2,031 | 77 | 0.0043% |
| 1998 | #1,912 | 80 | 0.0045% |
| 1997 | #2,125 | 66 | 0.0038% |
| 1996 | #1,854 | 79 | 0.0045% |
| 1995 | #1,664 | 89 | 0.0051% |
| 1994 | #1,821 | 79 | 0.0044% |
| 1993 | #2,231 | 59 | 0.0033% |
| 1992 | #2,901 | 41 | 0.0022% |
| 1991 | #3,265 | 34 | 0.0018% |
| 1990 | #3,125 | 36 | 0.0019% |
| 1989 | #4,080 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 1988 | #4,592 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1987 | #3,590 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 1986 | #3,608 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 1985 | #2,911 | 32 | 0.0019% |
| 1984 | #2,890 | 31 | 0.0018% |
| 1983 | #2,758 | 32 | 0.0019% |
| 1982 | #3,228 | 27 | 0.0016% |
| 1981 | #2,598 | 36 | 0.0022% |
| 1980 | #2,085 | 50 | 0.0030% |
| 1979 | #2,559 | 36 | 0.0022% |
| 1978 | #2,911 | 28 | 0.0018% |
| 1977 | #2,201 | 42 | 0.0027% |
| 1976 | #2,240 | 38 | 0.0026% |
| 1975 | #2,042 | 43 | 0.0029% |
| 1974 | #2,971 | 24 | 0.0016% |
| 1973 | #2,485 | 30 | 0.0021% |
| 1972 | #2,797 | 25 | 0.0016% |
| 1971 | #2,521 | 30 | 0.0018% |
| 1970 | #3,170 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 1969 | #3,277 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 1968 | #3,924 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1966 | #5,619 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1965 | #7,173 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1964 | #6,511 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1962 | #7,212 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1961 | #5,144 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1960 | #6,146 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1952 | #6,129 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,121 | 69 | 0.0040% |
| 2024 | #1,824 | 89 | 0.0052% |
| 2023 | #1,616 | 108 | 0.0063% |
| 2022 | #1,777 | 93 | 0.0053% |
| 2021 | #2,123 | 68 | 0.0039% |
| 2020 | #2,409 | 55 | 0.0032% |
| 2019 | #2,574 | 51 | 0.0028% |
| 2018 | #3,084 | 38 | 0.0021% |
| 2017 | #2,657 | 47 | 0.0025% |
| 2016 | #3,339 | 34 | 0.0018% |
| 2015 | #3,486 | 32 | 0.0017% |
| 2014 | #6,923 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2013 | #7,376 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2012 | #6,887 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2010 | #13,585 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2008 | #12,059 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #13,715 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2005 | #11,012 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2004 | #7,356 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2003 | #12,103 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2002 | #5,954 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #8,805 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #6,342 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1998 | #7,304 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1997 | #5,943 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1996 | #5,085 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1995 | #7,523 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1975 | #5,222 | 6 | 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 Mecca Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have psychic power. You can carry on for others with joy. You have a receptive nature and may bear burdens for others. You are pragmatic, thorough, strong-willed, practical and stubborn at times. You are hard working, often martyr to duty. You like home and security above all. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
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.
✦ Mecca's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Mecca's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.