Name Awesome

Nakoa

#1,606 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Brave

Nakoa has been given to 1,212 babies in the U.S. since 1977. In 2025 it ranked #1,606 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 116 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 94% boys, 6% girls all-time.

Babies named Nakoa, 2025

1 in 31,300

Nakoa over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Nakoa over time

In 2025, Nakoa went to 6% girls and 94% boys.

19772025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Nakoa: meaning, origin, and history

Brave

Hawaiian

What Nakoa means

Nakoa means “brave”, associated with nakoa.

Origin, language, and formation

Nakoa is used in Hawaiian. Its origins include Hawaiian.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Hawaiian, Nakoa is pronounced /naˈko.a/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,137 boys were recorded with the name Nakoa between 1977 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 116 in 2023; its best national rank was #1,524 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,038 in 2020 to #1,606 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #4,499 in 2015 to #1,606 in 2025.

In the United States, 75 girls were recorded with the name Nakoa between 2010 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 12 in 2024; its best national rank was #8,790 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #14,591 in 2020 to #12,784 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 Nakoa?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 31,300
106 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 16,100
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,606
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
21,679 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nakoa 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 21,679 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nakoa. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nakoas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nakoa was born before 2020 — so the typical Nakoa is around 5 today.

Median birth year
2020
About 5 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
53.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
92.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,137
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 53.7% of all recorded uses (611).

Is Nakoa 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
−69
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+432
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+2,893
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
4.82×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
91.4%
Peak was 2023 (116)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
28.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,524
2023

Spellings of Nakoa

Nakoa is not the most common spelling — Dakota is, with 52.3% against Nakoa's 0.64%.

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 Nakoa is used

Across 2016–2025, Nakoa was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 408 boys, against 1 in 16,334 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

1245 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 408
  2. 2Colorado1 in 11,111
  3. 3California1 in 12,500
  4. 4Oregon1 in 14,286
  5. 5Washington1 in 14,286
  6. 6Arizona1 in 20,000
  7. 7Florida1 in 20,000
  8. 8Georgia1 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.

Nakoa around the world

Where Nakoa 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.

  • England & Wales
    2017–2024
    #5,120
    in 2024
  • France
    2019–2023
    #5,170
    in 2023
  • Canada
    2012–2024
    #1,614
    in 2024

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Nakoa by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,606
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 432
Best rank ever
#1,524
2023
Peak year
2023
116 that year
First recorded
1977
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,137
Count in 2025
106

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#12,784
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,807
Best rank ever
#8,790
2024
Peak year
2024
12 that year
First recorded
2010
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
75
Count in 2025
7

Names similar to Nakoa

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

NakaiNakshMakoaNakulNakiaKekoaNakhiNakotaNakariNakeemTekoaKaikoaNakiNakoahNakhaiNikoaAkoaNakyeTakoaNakodaKoaNakobeNakhariJakoa

Sibling names for Nakoa

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 Nakoa

Top names of 2023, Nakoa's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2023Boys' names starting with N