Kapono
A Hawaiian name meaning righteous, virtuous, or moral.
Name Census estimates that about 202 living Americans carry the first name Kapono. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kapono today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kapono births was 2011 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kapono. 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
202
~ 1 in 1,696,804 Americans
Peak year
2011
15 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,391
Tracked since 1981
Census
Kapono in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 219 people with the first name Kapono, which placed it at #36,320 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
#36,320
National first-name rank
People counted
219
219 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
39.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kapono
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kapono is Asian/Pacific Islander at 39.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (32.4%) and Hispanic (21.5%). 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 Kapono 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 Kapono at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander39.3% · 86
- Two or more races32.4% · 71
- Hispanic or Latino21.5% · 47
- White3.2% · 7
- Black or African American2.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
Popularity
Kapono: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kapono from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 83 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
Kapono 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 Kapono during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaponos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kapono
The name Kapono has its origins in the Hawaiian language and culture. It is a Hawaiianized form of the English word "capono," which means "suitable" or "appropriate." The name likely emerged in the late 18th or early 19th century, as Hawaiians began adopting and adapting English names and words into their language.
In Hawaiian, the name Kapono is often associated with qualities such as righteousness, integrity, and uprightness. It is believed to convey a sense of living in harmony with the natural world and adhering to traditional Hawaiian values and customs.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kapono can be found in the Hawaiian language newspapers of the late 19th century. For example, a man named Kapono Kalama was mentioned in the newspaper "Ka Nupepa Kuokoa" in 1867.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Kapono. One of the most famous was Kapono Beamer (1924-2020), a renowned Hawaiian musician, songwriter, and composer. He was known for his contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Hawaiian music.
Another prominent figure with this name was Kapono Beamer Sr. (1905-1983), the father of Kapono Beamer. He was a respected Hawaiian historian, author, and educator who worked tirelessly to document and share the rich cultural heritage of Hawaii.
In the world of sports, Kapono Puahi (born 1986) is a former professional baseball player who played in the minor leagues for several years. He was born and raised in Hawaii and represented his home state on the national stage.
Kapono Kamaunu (born 1972) is a Hawaiian activist and educator who has been actively involved in the protection of Native Hawaiian rights and the promotion of indigenous language and culture.
Kapono Huihui (1947-2017) was a renowned Hawaiian artist known for his intricate and vibrant woodcarvings, which celebrated and preserved traditional Hawaiian art forms and motifs.
While the name Kapono has its roots in Hawaiian culture, it has gained popularity and usage beyond the islands, with individuals of various backgrounds embracing its meaning and significance.
People
Kapono + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kapono 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
Kapono: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kapono?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 202 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kapono 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 1,696,804 US residents.
Is Kapono a common name?
We classify Kapono as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 205 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kapono most popular?
The single biggest year for Kapono was 2011, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kapono is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kapono in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 219 people with the name Kapono, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,320 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 Kapono 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 Kapono?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kapono appears almost entirely male. Of the 219 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Kapono?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kapono is Asian/Pacific Islander at 39.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (32.4%) and Hispanic (21.5%). 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 Kapono most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kapono in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.3% (86 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 Kapono in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kapono a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kapono 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 Kapono still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kapono 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 Kapono 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 Kapono?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.