Nakoa
Nakoa is a Hawaiian masculine name meaning "warrior" or "brave one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,088 living Americans carry the first name Nakoa. It is a predominantly male name (93.8% of registrations). The average person named Nakoa today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nakoa births was 2024 (126 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nakoa. 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 Nakoa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Nakoa is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 315,032 Americans
Peak year
2024
126 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,537
Tracked since 1977
Census
Nakoa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 532 people with the first name Nakoa, which placed it at #19,726 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
#19,726
National first-name rank
People counted
532
532 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Two or more races
28.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nakoa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nakoa is Two or More Races at 28.9%. The next largest groups are White (21.4%) and Hispanic (21.4%). 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 Nakoa 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 Nakoa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Two or more races28.9% · 154
- White21.4% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino21.4% · 114
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.8% · 84
- American Indian and Alaska Native8.1% · 43
- Black or African American4.3% · 23
Gender
Gender distribution for Nakoa
Nakoa leans heavily male at 93.8% of total registrations, but 68 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nakoa as a male name
- Ranked #1,537 in 2024
- 114 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (116 births)
Nakoa as a female name
- Ranked #8,769 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nakoa leans strongly male. 469 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 62 female bearers (11.7%).
Popularity
Nakoa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nakoa from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 548 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nakoa 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 Nakoa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nakoas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Hawaii, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Nakoa, while Oregon, Arizona, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nakoa
The name Nakoa has its origins in the Hawaiian language and culture, originating from the Polynesian islands of the Pacific Ocean. It is believed to have first emerged in the Hawaiian language sometime around the 15th century, although its precise origins are uncertain.
Nakoa is derived from the Hawaiian words "na" meaning "the" and "koa" which refers to a type of hardwood tree native to the Hawaiian Islands. The koa tree was highly valued in traditional Hawaiian culture for its strength, durability, and use in various crafts and construction.
In Hawaiian mythology and oral traditions, the name Nakoa may have been associated with stories or characters representing strength, resilience, and a connection to the natural world. However, there are no definitive historical references or ancient texts that definitively mention the name.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Nakoa are found in Hawaiian genealogical records and historical documents from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. One of the first notable individuals with the name was Nakoa Kalama, a high-ranking chief and advisor to King Kamehameha I, who ruled the Hawaiian Islands in the early 19th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Nakoa:
1. Nakoa Kalama (c. 1770 - c. 1830), a Hawaiian chief and advisor to King Kamehameha I.
2. Nakoa Hiona (b. 1848), a Hawaiian farmer and landowner in the 19th century.
3. Nakoa Keahi (b. 1876), a Hawaiian educator and advocate for Hawaiian language and culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
4. Nakoa Kalili (b. 1892), a Hawaiian musician and composer known for his contributions to Hawaiian music and hula.
5. Nakoa Kaaua (b. 1920), a Hawaiian artist and painter known for his vibrant depictions of Hawaiian landscapes and culture.
While the name Nakoa has its roots in Hawaiian language and culture, it has gained popularity and recognition beyond the Hawaiian Islands, particularly in recent decades as interest in Hawaiian names and cultural traditions has grown.
People
Nakoa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nakoa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nakoa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nakoa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,088 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nakoa 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 315,032 US residents.
Is Nakoa a common name?
We classify Nakoa as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,098 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nakoa most popular?
The single biggest year for Nakoa was 2024, when 126 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nakoa is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nakoa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 532 people with the name Nakoa, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,726 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 Nakoa 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 Nakoa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nakoa leans strongly male. 469 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 62 female bearers (11.7%). 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 Nakoa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nakoa is Two or More Races at 28.9%. The next largest groups are White (21.4%) and Hispanic (21.4%). 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 Nakoa most often in the Census?
Two or More Races is the largest reported group for people named Nakoa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 28.9% (154 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 Nakoa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nakoa a male name?
Yes, 93.8% of people registered as Nakoa 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 Nakoa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nakoa 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 Nakoa 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 have the name Nakoa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.