Moana
A feminine name of Polynesian origin meaning "ocean" or "deep sea".
Name Census estimates that about 1,054 living Americans carry the first name Moana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Moana today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moana births was 2017 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moana. 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 Moana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 325,194 Americans
Peak year
2017
141 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,197
Tracked since 1941
Census
Moana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,017 people with the first name Moana, which placed it at #12,287 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
#12,287
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,017 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
36.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (23.1%) and White (16.6%). 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 Moana 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 Moana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander36.9% · 375
- Two or more races23.1% · 235
- White16.6% · 169
- Hispanic or Latino15.7% · 160
- Black or African American6.8% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 9
Popularity
Moana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moana from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 414 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Moana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moana 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 Moana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Hawaii, Florida recorded the most babies named Moana, while Washington, Georgia, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Moana
The name Moana has its origins in the Polynesian languages, particularly in the Maori language spoken in New Zealand and the Hawaiian language. In these languages, the word "moana" means "ocean" or "wide expanse of water." The name is believed to have been in use for centuries, reflecting the deep cultural connection of Polynesian peoples with the sea.
In Maori mythology, Moana is the name of the ocean deity, a powerful figure associated with the vast waters that surround the islands of New Zealand. The name was likely given to children as a way to honor this deity and express a reverence for the ocean's importance in Polynesian life.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Moana dates back to the late 18th century, when it was mentioned in the journals of European explorers who visited the Pacific islands. Captain James Cook, the famous British explorer, recorded encounters with Polynesian peoples and may have noted the name during his voyages.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Moana. One example is Moana Carcasses Kalosil (1888-1968), a Fijian chief and paramount leader of the Lau Islands. Another is Moana Pozzi (1961-1994), an Italian actress and model who was known for her work in adult films.
In the realm of literature, the name Moana has been used in works by authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, who featured a character named Moana in his novel "The Ebb-Tide" (1894). The name has also appeared in various Polynesian legends and oral traditions, reflecting its deep cultural significance.
Other notable individuals named Moana include Moana Mackey (born 1981), a New Zealand singer and songwriter, and Moana Nui (born 1995), a French Polynesian singer and dancer.
The name Moana gained wider recognition in recent years with the release of the 2016 Disney animated film "Moana," which featured a young Polynesian princess named Moana as the main character. The film's popularity contributed to an increased interest in the name and its cultural significance.
People
Moana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moana 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
Moana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,054 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moana 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 325,194 US residents.
Is Moana a common name?
We classify Moana as "Rare". It ranks above 90.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,109 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moana most popular?
The single biggest year for Moana was 2017, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moana is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Moana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,017 people with the name Moana, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,287 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 Moana 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 Moana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moana leans strongly female. 979 people counted with this name were female (96.4%), compared with 37 male bearers (3.6%). 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 Moana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (23.1%) and White (16.6%). 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 Moana most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Moana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.9% (375 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 Moana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Moana 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 Moana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moana 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 Moana 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 Americans are named Moana?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.