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Kainalu

#5,994 in 2025Boys' name

Sea + wave

Kainalu has been given to 667 babies in the U.S. since 1991. In 2025 it ranked #5,994 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2003, with 32 recorded.

Babies named Kainalu, 2025

1 in 221,000

Kainalu over time, 1880–2025

Boys
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kainalu: meaning, origin, and history

Sea + wave

Hawaiian

What Kainalu means

Kainalu means “sea + wave”, associated with kai and nalu.

Origin, language, and formation

Kainalu is used in Hawaiian. Its origins include Hawaiian.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Hawaiian, Kainalu is pronounced /kai̯ˈna.lu/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 667 boys were recorded with the name Kainalu between 1991 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 32 in 2003; its best national rank was #3,018 in 2003.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #4,779 in 2020 to #5,994 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #5,169 in 2015 to #5,994 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Kainalu?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 221,000
15 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 114,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#5,994
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
153,194 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kainalu sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 153,194 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kainalu. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kainalus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kainalu was born before 2008 — so the typical Kainalu is around 17 today.

Median birth year
2008
About 17 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
38.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
78.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
667
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 38.7% of all recorded uses (258).

Is Kainalu rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−1,026
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,215
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−825
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.83×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
46.9%
Peak was 2003 (32)
Years since peak
22
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,018
2003

Spellings of Kainalu

Kainalu is not the most common spelling — Kainan is, with 57.6% against Kainalu's 42.4%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Kainalu is used

Across 1910–2025, Kainalu was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 1,235 boys, against 1 in 41,532 across all states with data. It was least common in Utah (1 in —).

081 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 1,235
  2. 2California1 in —
  3. 3Utah1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Kainalu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kainalu around the world

Where Kainalu ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • South Australia
    2001–2001
    #581
    in 2001

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Kainalu by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,994
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,215
Best rank ever
#3,018
2003
Peak year
2003
32 that year
First recorded
1991
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
667
Count in 2025
15

Names similar to Kainalu

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KaimanaKailashKaidonKairosKailanKailerKailebKaidenceKaisynKaimaniKainanKailenKairavKaireeKaidanKailandKainenKaizerKaivonKaironKainoahKaiyanKailonKaicen

Sibling names for Kainalu

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Kainalu

Top names of 2003, Kainalu's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2003Boys' names starting with K