Halaina
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "beautiful sweeping lei".
Name Census estimates that about 142 living Americans carry the first name Halaina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Halaina today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Halaina births was 2006 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Halaina. 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
142
~ 1 in 2,413,763 Americans
Peak year
2006
10 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,096
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Halaina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Halaina 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 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Halaina 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 Halaina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Halaina
The given name Halaina finds its origins in the Hawaiian language, tracing back to the ancient Polynesian cultures of the Pacific islands. The name is derived from the Hawaiian words "hala," meaning pandanus leaf, and "aina," meaning land or earth. Thus, Halaina can be interpreted as "the pandanus leaf of the land," reflecting the deep connection between the indigenous Hawaiian people and their natural environment.
In traditional Hawaiian culture, the pandanus plant held great significance, with its leaves being used for weaving mats, baskets, and other utilitarian items. The name Halaina may have been bestowed upon individuals with a strong affinity for nature or those who excelled in the art of weaving or crafting with pandanus leaves.
While no specific historical references or ancient texts mentioning the name Halaina have been found, it is believed to have been in use among the Hawaiian people for centuries, with some of the earliest recorded instances appearing in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, following the arrival of European explorers and missionaries in the Hawaiian Islands.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Halaina was Halaina Kalama Kahanamoku, born in 1848 in Honolulu, Hawaii. She was a member of the Hawaiian royal family and served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Another notable figure bearing the name Halaina was Halaina Kahikikala, a Hawaiian activist and community leader in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in 1865, she played a significant role in advocating for the preservation of Hawaiian culture and the protection of Native Hawaiian land rights.
In the realm of Hawaiian music, Halaina Edmondson, born in 1908, was a renowned singer and composer. She helped revive and popularize traditional Hawaiian songs and chants, contributing to the preservation of the islands' rich musical heritage.
Halaina Kahalewai, born in 1923, was a celebrated hula dancer and teacher. She dedicated her life to perpetuating the art of hula, a sacred and integral part of Hawaiian culture, and trained numerous students in this ancient dance form.
Lastly, Halaina Kaopuiki, born in 1935, was a respected kumu hula (hula teacher) and cultural practitioner. She played a vital role in passing down the knowledge and traditions of Hawaiian dance, music, and language to future generations, ensuring the continuity of these invaluable cultural practices.
People
Halaina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Halaina as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Halaina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Halaina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 142 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Halaina 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 2,413,763 US residents.
Is Halaina a common name?
We classify Halaina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Halaina most popular?
The single biggest year for Halaina was 2006, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Halaina is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Halaina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Halaina 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.