Kanoah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "little village" or "humble place".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Kanoah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kanoah today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kanoah births was 2020 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kanoah. 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 Kanoah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2020
6 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2020 SSA rank
#11,298
Tracked since 2020
Popularity
Kanoah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Kanoah 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 Kanoah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Kanoah
The name Kanoah originates from the Hebrew language and culture, with its earliest recorded use dating back to ancient times. The name is derived from the Hebrew root word "kanah," which means "to acquire" or "to possess." It is believed to be related to the biblical figure Cainan, who is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as a descendant of Adam.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kanoah can be found in the Bible. In the Book of Numbers 34:19-22, Kanoah is mentioned as the name of a prince from the tribe of Ephraim, who was appointed to assist in the division of the land of Canaan among the Israelites.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kanoah. In the 6th century BCE, Kanoah ben Rechab was a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Judah, known for his adherence to the Rechabite tradition of living a nomadic lifestyle and abstaining from wine.
During the Middle Ages, Kanoah ibn Sarjun (1031-1106) was a renowned Jewish philosopher and scholar from Spain. He wrote extensively on topics such as metaphysics, ethics, and Jewish law, and his works had a significant influence on the intellectual discourse of his time.
In more recent history, Kanoah Webber (1784-1858) was an American frontiersman and explorer who played a pivotal role in the westward expansion of the United States. He was among the first settlers in the Oregon Territory and helped establish the city of Portland.
Another notable figure with the name Kanoah was Kanoah Kakunenen (1913-1988), a Finnish artist and sculptor who gained recognition for his abstract and modernist works. His sculptures can be found in numerous public spaces and museums throughout Finland.
It is worth noting that while the name Kanoah has its roots in ancient Hebrew, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and languages over the centuries, sometimes with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation.
People
Kanoah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kanoah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kanoah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kanoah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kanoah 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Kanoah a common name?
We classify Kanoah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kanoah most popular?
The single biggest year for Kanoah was 2020, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kanoah is about 6 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 Kanoah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kanoah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kanoah in the SSA data are male. 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 Kanoah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kanoah 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 Kanoah 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 common is the name Kanoah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.