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Kanoa

#4,468 in 2025Boys' name

The + commoner; freed of taboo

Kanoa has been given to 878 babies in the U.S. since 1971. In 2025 it ranked #4,468 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2010, with 47 recorded.

Babies named Kanoa, 2025

1 in 144,000

Kanoa over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kanoa: meaning, origin, and history

The + commoner; freed of taboo

Hawaiian

What Kanoa means

Kanoa means “the + commoner; freed of taboo”, associated with ka and noa.

Origin, language, and formation

Kanoa is used in Hawaiian. Its origins include Hawaiian.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Hawaiian, Kanoa is pronounced /kaˈno.a/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 867 boys were recorded with the name Kanoa between 1971 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 47 in 2010; its best national rank was #2,606 in 2010.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,940 in 2020 to #4,468 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #4,804 in 2015 to #4,468 in 2025.

In the United States, 11 girls were recorded with the name Kanoa between 2021 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 6 in 2021; its best national rank was #14,329 in 2021.

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 Kanoa?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 144,000
23 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 74,300
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#4,468
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
99,910 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kanoa 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 99,910 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kanoa. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kanoas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kanoa was born before 2010 — so the typical Kanoa is around 15 today.

Median birth year
2010
About 15 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
34.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
82.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
867
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 34.6% of all recorded uses (300).

Is Kanoa 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
−329
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+472
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+336
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.15×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
48.9%
Peak was 2010 (47)
Years since peak
15
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
33.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,606
2010

Spellings of Kanoa

Kanoa is not the most common spelling — Dana is, with 31.2% against Kanoa's 0.51%.

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 Kanoa is used

Across 1910–2025, Kanoa was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 2,000 boys, against 1 in 37,973 across all states with data. It was least common in California (1 in 100,000).

150 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 2,000
  2. 2California1 in 100,000

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. Kanoa has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kanoa around the world

Where Kanoa 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.

  • France
    2007–2007
    #5,278
    in 2007

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Kanoa by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#4,468
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 472
Best rank ever
#2,606
2010
Peak year
2010
47 that year
First recorded
1971
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
867
Count in 2025
23

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#14,329
2021
Peak year
2021
6 that year
First recorded
2021
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
11
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kanoa

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

KanenKanyeKanonKananKanaiKaniKanaanKanyonKanavKannanKannenKaninKanoNainoaKannonKansasKanishkKainoaKanekiKanaloaKandenKandonKaneloKaniel

Sibling names for Kanoa

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 Kanoa

Top names of 2010, Kanoa's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2010Boys' names starting with K