Minka
About Minka
In the contemporary US, Minka attracted notice via actress Minka Kelly, who played the gorgeous Lyla on Friday Night Lights.
This cute and lively nickname name can (and does) certainly stand on its own, but it can also be a diminutive of the diminutive Mina, short for Wilhelmina or any name ending in -mina.
While Minka has never charted on the US Top 1000 and was given to only a few dozen baby girls last year, Mina is staging a comeback after several decades off the list following World War II, when many German names fell out of fashion.
Pronounced MIN-kuh.
As of October 2026, Minka ranked #6047 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #3691 in 2012, Nameberry popularity #654.
Editor's take: The name Minka is a girl's name of Polish origin meaning "resolute protection".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #4,734 | 30 | 16.8 |
| 2015 | #4,681 | 30 | 16.8 |
| 2016 | #4,945 | 28 | 15.8 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | #4,473 | 31 | 18.9 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Minka.
- Bonnibel
- Kikilia
- Juneau
- Matisse
- Björk
- Laramie
- Bluma
- Jericho
- Lolo
- Serene
- Sonoma
- Seville
- Aberdeen
- Lulie
- Jeune
- Tula
- Dittany
- Caro
- Maybeth
- Paz
Minka on lists
Famous Minkas
- Minka Dumont Kelly
American actress
- Minka Pradelski
German filmmaker and novelist
Minka in pop culture
- Minka Kropotkin
Tommy's grandmother on animated series Rugrats
- Minka Singer
character in 'The Storyteller' by Jodi Picoult
- Minka
character in comic opera "Le roi malgré lui" by Emmanuel Chabrier