Hawwa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "life-giver" or "mother of all living".
Name Census estimates that about 94 living Americans carry the first name Hawwa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hawwa today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hawwa births was 2014 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hawwa. 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 Hawwa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hawwa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
94
~ 1 in 3,646,323 Americans
Peak year
2014
15 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,047
Tracked since 2010
Popularity
Hawwa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hawwa from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 57 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hawwa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hawwa 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 Hawwa 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 Hawwa
The name Hawwa (also spelled Hawa or Hava) is of Semitic origin, derived from the Arabic and Hebrew word "hayya" or "hawwa," meaning "life" or "living one." It is the Arabic and Hebrew equivalent of the English name Eve.
The name first appears in the biblical Book of Genesis, where Hawwa is mentioned as the first woman created by God and the wife of Adam, the first man. In the Quranic narrative, Hawwa is also portrayed as the first woman and the companion of Adam.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hawwa is in the Hebrew Bible, which dates back to around the 6th century BCE. The name is also prominently featured in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, which was compiled in the 7th century CE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Hawwa or its variants. One of the earliest known was Hawwa bint Yazid ibn Mu'awiya (died 738 CE), a princess from the Umayyad Caliphate in the Middle East.
Another prominent figure was Hawwa bint al-Husayn (c. 688–724 CE), a revered Islamic scholar and the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad. She was known for her extensive knowledge of hadith (prophetic traditions) and Islamic jurisprudence.
In the 12th century, Hawwa bint Ibrahim al-Zahiri (1165–1215 CE) was a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Baghdad. She was highly respected for her expertise in the Zahiri School of Islamic jurisprudence.
During the Ottoman Empire, Hawwa Sultan (1590–1653 CE) was a prominent figure as the wife of Sultan Ahmed I and the mother of Sultan Murad IV. She played a significant role in the political and cultural affairs of the empire.
More recently, Hawwa Idris (1911–1991) was a pioneering Sudanese writer and poet who helped shape modern Arabic literature in Sudan. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and the struggles of women in society.
While the name Hawwa has its roots in the Semitic languages and religious traditions, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions throughout history, reflecting its enduring significance and appeal.
People
Hawwa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hawwa 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
Hawwa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hawwa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 94 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hawwa 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 3,646,323 US residents.
Is Hawwa a common name?
We classify Hawwa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 95 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hawwa most popular?
The single biggest year for Hawwa was 2014, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hawwa is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Hawwa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hawwa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hawwa 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 Hawwa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hawwa 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 Hawwa 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Hawwa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.