Akili
- Gender
- Mostly boys
- Say it
- ah-KEE-lee
- Origin
- Arabic
- US rank, 2025
- #9,710 for boys
Akili is a name of Arabic origin, meaning “intelligence, wisdom”. In 2025 it ranked 9,710th for boys in the US (7 babies).
What does Akili mean?
Arabic: Swahili word akili, borrowed from Arabic aql
“intelligence, wisdom”
The everyday Swahili word for mind or intelligence, a borrowing from Arabic aql.
Is Akili a girl's or a boy's name?
In recent years, Akili has been given to girls and boys, mostly boys. In 2025, it was given to 7 boys in the US.
How popular is Akili in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #9,710among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 7about 1 in 240,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 7 boys in the US were named Akili, making it the 9,710th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 8,062nd. Its busiest year was 1999, with 26 boys. It first appears in the records in 1972.
Half of all the boys named Akili in the US since 1880 were born between 1983 and 2007, the years shaded on the chart below.
Akili in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | #9,710 |
| 2024 | 7 | #9,888 |
| 2023 | 5 | #12,232 |
| 2022 | 8 | #8,983 |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 9 | #8,062 |
| 2019 | 6 | #10,797 |
| 2018 | 11 | #7,132 |
| 2017 | 9 | #8,136 |
| 2016 | 7 | #9,659 |
| 2015 | 8 | #8,739 |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 10 | #7,532 |
| 2012 | 5 | #12,267 |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 8 | #8,797 |
| 2009 | 9 | #8,305 |
| 2008 | 5 | #12,546 |
| 2007 | 13 | #6,259 |
| 2006 | 6 | #10,655 |
| 2005 | 9 | #7,633 |
| 2004 | 9 | #7,530 |
| 2003 | 13 | #5,551 |
| 2002 | 13 | #5,388 |
| 2001 | 14 | #5,135 |
| 2000 | 22 | #3,634 |
| 1999 | 26 | #3,099 |
| 1998 | 14 | #4,645 |
| 1997 | 11 | #5,282 |
| 1996 | 12 | #4,871 |
| 1995 | 13 | #4,502 |
| 1994 | 14 | #4,284 |
| 1993 | 8 | #6,221 |
| 1992 | 8 | #6,120 |
| 1991 | 9 | #5,513 |
| 1990 | 0 | – |
| 1989 | 6 | #6,934 |
| 1988 | 0 | – |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 0 | – |
| 1985 | 0 | – |
| 1984 | 8 | #4,549 |
| 1983 | 7 | #4,904 |
| 1982 | 8 | #4,591 |
| 1981 | 8 | #4,507 |
| 1980 | 6 | #5,523 |
| 1979 | 12 | #3,356 |
| 1978 | 9 | #3,855 |
| 1977 | 8 | #4,162 |
| 1976 | 10 | #3,469 |
| 1975 | 18 | #2,360 |
| 1974 | 5 | #5,225 |
| 1973 | 13 | #2,714 |
| 1972 | 15 | #2,418 |
Names like Akili
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Dakota Yuri Amiri Sami Bakari Loki Yitzchok Akari Abdullah Kairo Dakari Takari
Names related to Akili
More Arabic names
Muhammad Layla Mohammed Lyla Mohammad Zara Aaliyah Amir Amira Fatima Ali Yahya Zayn Aisha Omar Zahra
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Akili: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/akili, updated 20 October 2026.