Awa
A Polynesian name meaning "river" or "valley".
Name Census estimates that about 832 living Americans carry the first name Awa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Awa today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Awa births was 2005 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Awa. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
832
~ 1 in 411,964 Americans
Peak year
2005
44 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,446
Tracked since 1992
Popularity
Awa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Awa from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 316 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Awa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Awa by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Awa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Awas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Ohio, Georgia recorded the most babies named Awa, while Texas, Maryland, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Awa
The name Awa has its origins in the Yoruba language of West Africa, specifically in present-day Nigeria. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century. The name is derived from the Yoruba word "awa," which means "a beautiful or handsome person."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Awa can be found in the oral traditions and folklore of the Yoruba people. It is said that Awa was the name of a renowned warrior princess who fought alongside her father, the king, in battles against neighboring tribes.
In the 16th century, the name Awa gained prominence among the Yoruba nobility and ruling class. Awa, the daughter of Oba (King) Agboniregun, was a respected and influential figure in the Oyo Empire during this time.
As the transatlantic slave trade intensified, many Yoruba people, including those with the name Awa, were forcibly taken to the Americas. This led to the name being introduced and adopted in various parts of the Caribbean and South America.
One notable figure in history with the name Awa was Awa Njeri, a Kenyan freedom fighter and activist who played a pivotal role in the Mau Mau uprising against British colonial rule in the 1950s.
Another prominent individual with the name Awa was Awa Thiam, a Senegalese writer, and feminist activist born in 1941. Her works, such as "Black Sisters, Speak Out," explored issues of gender, race, and identity in postcolonial Africa.
In the realm of sports, Awa Guissé, a Senegalese basketball player born in 1985, has represented her country at numerous international tournaments and competitions.
The name Awa has also been used in literature, with Awa Press being a notable independent publishing house based in New Zealand, founded in 1975 and dedicated to promoting Pacific and indigenous writers.
Awa Tsireh, a renowned Pueblo painter and potter from the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico, was born in 1898 and is celebrated for his contributions to the preservation and promotion of Native American art and culture.
People
Awa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Awa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Awa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Awa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 832 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Awa going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 411,964 US residents.
Is Awa a common name?
We classify Awa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 842 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Awa most popular?
The single biggest year for Awa was 2005, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Awa is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Awa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Awa in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.