Cheikh

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Cheikh is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name1.0K records spelled Cheikh3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania

  Also written Cheïkh, Cheîkh

• Swedish given name420 records spelled Cheikh9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Italy, Denmark, Spain, Norway

  Languages: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål

  Also written Ćhéikh, Çhéîkh, Chéikh, Ćhêįkh

• Malay given name303 records spelled Cheikh5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Senegal, United States, Spain, Italy

  Languages: Malay, Indonesian

  Also written Çhéikh, Çhëïķh, Çhëîkh

• Russian surname214 records spelled Cheikh31 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Russia, United States, Ukraine

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian

  Also written Shaikh, Шейх, Sheikh, Шейха, Шеих

50 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Cheikh is also recorded in one other lexicon, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Guinean: 'learned'

  as a name·African Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 32 years between 1992–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Cheikh Touhamib. 1907DZAlgerian politician
• Dalil Boubakeurb. 1940DZnot in their usual nameFrench physician
• Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaréb. 1951SNPrime Minister of Senegal, 2007-2009
• Cheikh Sidy Bab. 1968SNassociation football player (1968/1972–)
• Cheikh Touréb. 1970SNFrench athlete
• Cheick N'Diayeb. 1985SNnot in their usual nameSenegalese and French footballer
• Cheikh Gueyeb. 1986SNSenegalese footballer
• Cheikh M'Bengueb. 1988FRSenegalese and French footballer
• Cheikh Sabalyb. 1999SNSenegalese footballer
• Iliman Ndiayeb. 2000FRnot in their usual nameSenegalese-French footballer (born 2000)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 206 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Cheikh?

We estimate roughly 4.5 thousand people bear Cheikh (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Cheikh have the most bearers?

Cheikh is most frequently recorded in Mauritania, where it is most often spelled cheikh.

How common is Cheikh compared with other names?

In Mauritania, Cheikh is the 6th most common given name of 559 given names recorded there.

Is Cheikh a male or female name?

Cheikh is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Cheikh mean?

Recorded meaning: Alternative form of sheik.