Haunani
A Hawaiian feminine name meaning "beautiful work" or "beautiful flower".
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Haunani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Haunani today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haunani births was 1979 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haunani. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Haunani. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
1979
11 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2016 SSA rank
#17,186
Tracked since 1953
Census
Haunani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 201 people with the first name Haunani, which placed it at #38,294 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#38,294
National first-name rank
People counted
201
201 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
44.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Haunani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haunani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 44.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (29.4%) and Hispanic (14.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Haunani described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Haunani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander44.8% · 90
- Two or more races29.4% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino14.9% · 30
- White6.5% · 13
- Black or African American2.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 4
Popularity
Haunani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haunani from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 40 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Haunani 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 Haunani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Haunanis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Haunani
The name Haunani originated from the Hawaiian language and culture. It is a beautiful and melodic name that has been in use for centuries in the Hawaiian Islands. The name is derived from the Hawaiian words "hau," meaning "snow," and "nani," meaning "beautiful." Therefore, the name Haunani can be interpreted as "beautiful snow" or "beautiful snowflake."
In Hawaiian culture, names often reflect the natural world and the elements, and Haunani is no exception. The inclusion of "hau" in the name could also be a reference to the hau tree, which is native to Hawaii and has cultural significance. The hau tree's wood was traditionally used for canoe-making and its bark for making tapa cloth.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Haunani can be traced back to the 18th century. One of the earliest documented individuals with this name was Haunani, a Hawaiian chiefess who lived in the late 1700s. She was known for her beauty and her lineage, which traced back to the ancient Hawaiian royalty.
In the 19th century, a notable figure named Haunani was Haunani Kauhi, a Hawaiian historian and scholar born in 1832. She was instrumental in preserving and documenting Hawaiian oral traditions, legends, and genealogies. Haunani Kauhi's work played a significant role in maintaining Hawaiian cultural heritage during a period of rapid change and Western influence.
Another historical figure with the name Haunani was Haunani Kahalepuna, a Hawaiian dancer and entertainer born in 1873. She was renowned for her graceful hula performances and her contribution to perpetuating the traditional Hawaiian dance form during a time when it faced suppression.
In the 20th century, Haunani Greig (1923-2021) was a notable Hawaiian educator and advocate for the preservation of the Hawaiian language. She dedicated her life to teaching and promoting the use of the Hawaiian language, ensuring its survival for future generations.
Haunani Kay Trask (1949-2021) was a prominent Hawaiian activist, scholar, and author. She was a fierce advocate for Hawaiian sovereignty and the rights of indigenous peoples. Trask's work and activism brought international attention to the struggles of Native Hawaiians and their fight for self-determination.
The name Haunani continues to be a popular choice among Hawaiian families today, carrying with it a rich cultural heritage and a connection to the islands' natural beauty and traditions.
People
Haunani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haunani 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
Haunani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haunani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haunani 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Haunani a common name?
We classify Haunani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haunani most popular?
The single biggest year for Haunani was 1979, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haunani is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Haunani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 201 people with the name Haunani, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,294 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Haunani in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Haunani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Haunani leans strongly female. 185 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Haunani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haunani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 44.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (29.4%) and Hispanic (14.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Haunani most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Haunani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.8% (90 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Haunani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Haunani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Haunani 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.
Is Haunani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Haunani in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Haunani can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Haunani?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.