Loa
A name meaning "to rise" or "elevated" in Hawaiian culture.
Name Census estimates that about 356 living Americans carry the first name Loa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Loa today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Loa births was 1924 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Loa. 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 Loa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
356
~ 1 in 962,793 Americans
Peak year
1924
29 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,276
Tracked since 1894
Census
Loa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 525 people with the first name Loa, which placed it at #19,901 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
#19,901
National first-name rank
People counted
525
525 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loa is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.9%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Loa 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 Loa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.5% · 391
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.9% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 34
- Two or more races4.2% · 22
- Black or African American2.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 8
Popularity
Loa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Loa from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 172 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Loa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Loa 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 Loa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Loas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Utah, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Loa, while Ohio, California, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Loa
The name Loa has its origins in the Polynesian language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. In Hawaiian, the word "loa" means "long" or "enduring," suggesting a connection to longevity or something that lasts. This name could have been given to individuals who were perceived as having a long life ahead of them or as a symbol of endurance and resilience.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Loa comes from Hawaiian mythology, where it was associated with a powerful god of fertility, rain, and agriculture. According to legends, Loa was a significant figure in the creation stories of the Hawaiian islands and was deeply revered by ancient Hawaiians.
Historically, the name Loa has been used by several notable individuals. One such person was Loa Kamehameha, a Hawaiian princess and member of the Kamehameha dynasty, who lived in the early 19th century. She played a crucial role in preserving Hawaiian culture and traditions during a time of significant change and western influence.
Another notable figure was Loa Pelekai, a Hawaiian scholar and historian who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He dedicated his life to documenting and preserving Hawaiian language, customs, and traditions, contributing significantly to the preservation of Hawaiian cultural heritage.
In literature, the name Loa was used by the renowned Hawaiian author John Dominis Holt in his novel "Loa, the Untamed." Published in 1918, the book explores the life of a Hawaiian woman named Loa and offers insights into the traditional Hawaiian way of life during the early 20th century.
Outside of Hawaii, the name Loa has also been used by individuals from other Polynesian cultures. One example is Loa Tuitahi, a Tongan chief and warrior who lived in the late 18th century and played a significant role in the historical events of the Tongan archipelago.
While the name Loa may not be as widely used today as it once was, it remains a significant part of Polynesian cultural heritage and continues to carry the connotations of endurance, resilience, and connection to nature that were embedded in its ancient origins.
People
Loa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Loa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Loa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Loa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 356 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Loa 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 962,793 US residents.
Is Loa a common name?
We classify Loa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 887 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Loa most popular?
The single biggest year for Loa was 1924, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Loa is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Loa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 525 people with the name Loa, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,901 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 Loa 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 Loa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Loa leans strongly female. 477 people counted with this name were female (90.9%), compared with 48 male bearers (9.1%). 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 Loa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loa is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.9%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Loa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Loa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.5% (391 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 Loa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Loa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Loa 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 Loa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Loa 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 Loa 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 Loa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.