Mana
A word meaning power or prestige in Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures.
Name Census estimates that about 773 living Americans carry the first name Mana. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Mana today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mana births was 2013 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mana. 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 Mana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
773
~ 1 in 443,408 Americans
Peak year
2013
37 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,331
Tracked since 1917
Census
Mana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,394 people with the first name Mana, which placed it at #6,642 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
#6,642
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,394 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
31.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mana is Hispanic at 31.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.0%) and White (23.9%). 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 Mana 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 Mana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino31.3% · 750
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.0% · 670
- White23.9% · 573
- Black or African American11.2% · 267
- Two or more races5.3% · 128
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Mana
Mana leans heavily female at 84.1% of total registrations, but 128 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mana as a male name
- Ranked #6,331 in 2024
- 14 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (14 births)
Mana as a female name
- Ranked #7,095 in 2024
- 16 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (27 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mana leans strongly female. 2,030 people counted with this name were female (84.9%), compared with 361 male bearers (15.1%).
Popularity
Mana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mana from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 301 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mana 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 Mana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Manas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Hawaii, New York recorded the most babies named Mana, while New York, Hawaii, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mana
The name Mana has its origins in several ancient cultures and languages around the world. In Polynesian mythology, Mana refers to a supernatural force or spiritual power that can be passed on through individuals, objects, or rituals. The word is thought to have derived from the Proto-Polynesian root "mana," meaning "power" or "authority."
Mana is also a name found in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. In Hinduism, it can refer to respect, honor, or the sacred essence within all beings. The name may be related to the Sanskrit word "manas," meaning "mind" or "soul." In this context, Mana could signify the divine nature or inner strength of an individual.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, the name Mana appears as a personification of the concept of truth, order, and cosmic harmony. Mana was often depicted as a feather, which symbolized lightness, justice, and the weighing of one's heart against the feather of truth in the afterlife.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Mana can be found in the Upanishads, a collection of ancient Hindu philosophical texts dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In these texts, Mana is described as a spiritual principle or the essence of consciousness.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mana. In ancient Greece, Mana was the daughter of the river god Sangarius and the nymph Metope. In Hindu mythology, Mana was the daughter of the sage Virata and the wife of the warrior Samba.
In more recent times, Mana Zucca (1885-1972) was an Italian painter and sculptor known for her works depicting the human figure. Mana Neyestani (born 1973) is an Iranian cartoonist and political activist who has faced persecution for his satirical works criticizing the Iranian government.
Mana Wahine (1836-1921) was a prominent Maori leader and activist from New Zealand who advocated for women's rights and the preservation of Maori culture and language. Mana Loa (born 1986) is a professional wrestler from Samoa who has competed in various organizations, including WWE and Impact Wrestling.
Mana Izumi (1920-1985) was a Japanese writer and translator known for her works exploring themes of feminism, identity, and cultural clashes between East and West. She was awarded the Noma Literary Prize in 1964 for her novel "The Vagabond."
People
Mana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 773 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mana 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 443,408 US residents.
Is Mana a common name?
We classify Mana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 806 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mana most popular?
The single biggest year for Mana was 2013, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mana is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,394 people with the name Mana, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,642 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 Mana 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 Mana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mana leans strongly female. 2,030 people counted with this name were female (84.9%), compared with 361 male bearers (15.1%). 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 Mana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mana is Hispanic at 31.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.0%) and White (23.9%). 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 Mana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 31.3% (750 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 Mana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mana a female name?
Yes, 84.1% of people registered as Mana 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 Mana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mana 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 Mana 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 many people are named Mana?
Find out how many Americans are named Mana on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.