Hawi
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "sweet-scented" or "thread of flowers".
Name Census estimates that about 75 living Americans carry the first name Hawi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hawi today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hawi births was 2014 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hawi. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hawi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hawi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
75
~ 1 in 4,570,058 Americans
Peak year
2014
11 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,200
Tracked since 2006
Census
Hawi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 287 people with the first name Hawi, which placed it at #30,385 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
#30,385
National first-name rank
People counted
287
287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hawi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hawi is Black at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%) and White (1.4%). 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 Hawi 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 Hawi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.1% · 270
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 8
- White1.4% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 3
- Two or more races0.7% · 2
Popularity
Hawi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hawi from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 52 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hawi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hawi 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 Hawi 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 Hawi
The name Hawi has its origins in the Hawaiian language and culture. It is derived from the Hawaiian word "hau," which refers to the hibiscus plant, a flowering shrub that is native to the Hawaiian Islands and holds significant cultural and symbolic meaning.
In Hawaiian tradition, the hibiscus plant was revered for its beauty, resilience, and medicinal properties. The name Hawi was likely bestowed upon individuals as a way to honor and celebrate the qualities associated with this plant, such as strength, beauty, and a connection to the natural world.
While the exact origins of the name Hawi are difficult to pinpoint, it is believed to have been in use among the indigenous people of Hawaii for centuries, long before the arrival of European explorers and settlers in the late 18th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hawi can be found in the Hawaiian oral traditions and chants, where it is mentioned in connection with various cultural practices and ceremonies. However, the name does not appear to have been widely documented in written form until the 19th century, when Hawaiian language and culture began to be more thoroughly recorded and studied.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hawi. One such person was Hawi Kaʻili (1809-1857), a Hawaiian chieftain and advisor to King Kamehameha III. Kaʻili played a significant role in the negotiations that led to the establishment of the Great Mahele, a major land redistribution initiative in the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Another notable figure was Hawi Keʻau (1845-1919), a Hawaiian scholar, historian, and translator. Keʻau was instrumental in preserving and documenting Hawaiian language, traditions, and cultural practices, and her work is widely regarded as a valuable resource for understanding Hawaiian history and heritage.
In the realm of arts and culture, Hawi Kaʻapuni (1863-1941) was a renowned Hawaiian musician and composer. Kaʻapuni's compositions, which included songs, chants, and instrumental pieces, helped to popularize and preserve traditional Hawaiian music during a time when Western influences were becoming increasingly prevalent.
More recently, Hawi Imaikalani (1935-2009) was a respected Hawaiian artist and educator. Imaikalani's vibrant and expressive paintings often depicted scenes from Hawaiian mythology and cultural traditions, and her work played a significant role in the Hawaiian Renaissance movement of the 20th century.
Lastly, Hawi Kahele (1957-present) is a contemporary Hawaiian activist and politician. Kahele has been a vocal advocate for Native Hawaiian rights, environmental protection, and cultural preservation, serving in various leadership roles and organizations dedicated to advancing these causes.
While these are just a few examples, the name Hawi has been carried by numerous individuals throughout Hawaiian history, each contributing to the rich tapestry of Hawaiian culture and legacy in their own unique way.
People
Hawi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hawi 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
Hawi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hawi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 75 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hawi 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 4,570,058 US residents.
Is Hawi a common name?
We classify Hawi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 76 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hawi most popular?
The single biggest year for Hawi was 2014, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hawi is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hawi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 287 people with the name Hawi, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,385 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 Hawi 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 Hawi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hawi leans strongly female. 267 people counted with this name were female (93.0%), compared with 20 male bearers (7.0%). 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 Hawi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hawi is Black at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%) and White (1.4%). 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 Hawi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Hawi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (270 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 Hawi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hawi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hawi 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 Hawi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hawi 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 Hawi 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 common is the name Hawi?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Hawi at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.