Makwa

#13,198 in 2025Boys' name

Bear

Makwa has been given to 5 babies in the U.S. since 2025. In 2025 it ranked #13,198 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 5 recorded.

Babies named Makwa, 2025

1 in 663,000

Makwa over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Makwa: meaning, origin, and history

Bear

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Makwa means

Makwa means “bear”, associated with makwa.

Origin, language, and formation

Makwa is used in Ojibwe.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Ojibwe, Makwa is pronounced /mʌˈkʰwʌ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Makwa between 2025 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2025; its best national rank was #13,198 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 Makwa?

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

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 663,000; 5 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 342,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #13,198; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 459,581 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Makwa 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 459,581 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Makwa. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Makwas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Makwa was born before 2025 — so the typical Makwa is around 0 today.

Median birth year: 2025; About 0 years old
Biggest decade: 2020s; 100.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2020s — 100.0% of all recorded uses (5).

Is Makwa 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 100.0%; Peak was 2025 (5)
Years since peak: Peaking now; At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #13,198; 2025

Spellings of Makwa

Makwa is not the most common spelling — Makai is, with 32.8% against Makwa's 0.02%.

Makai32.8%9,298
Maria15.1%4,278
Makhi14.6%4,131
Nakia7.1%2,006
Makoa5.2%1,480
Marwan4.8%1,367
Mika4.8%1,362
Nakoa4.0%1,137

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.

Makwa by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #13,198
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: New entry
Best rank ever: #13,198; 2025
Peak year: 2025; 5 that year
First recorded: 2025
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: 5

Names similar to Makwa

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

Makao Makio Makiy Makan Makal Makis Makais Makua Makiel Makala Makieh Makayo Maklin Makil Makah Makoi Maksen Makeo Makkah Makin Makias Makoah Makhel Makarri

Sibling names for Makwa

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

For a sister

Annabell Abagail Shyann Sydni Halie Leonor Sydnie Karleigh

For a brother

Aaden Kale Evans Hamilton Caesar Brennen Tobin Jerimiah

Explore around Makwa

Top names of 2025, Makwa's peak year The 2020s in full Other names that peaked in 2025 Boys' names starting with M