Noa
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "freedom, motion or movement".
Name Census estimates that about 12,547 living Americans carry the first name Noa. It sits at #253 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Noa today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Noa births was 2024 (1,487 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Noa. 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 Noa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Noa is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 27,318 Americans
Peak year
2024
1,487 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#253
Tracked since 1970
Census
Noa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,754 people with the first name Noa, which placed it at #2,927 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
#2,927
National first-name rank
People counted
7.8K
7,754 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Noa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Noa is White at 57.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.7%) and Two or More Races (9.8%). 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 Noa 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 Noa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.3% · 4,444
- Hispanic or Latino20.7% · 1,606
- Two or more races9.8% · 763
- Black or African American6.4% · 494
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.4% · 419
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 28
Gender
Gender distribution for Noa
Noa leans heavily female at 82.6% of total registrations, but 2,206 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Noa as a male name
- Ranked #985 in 2024
- 228 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (228 births)
Noa as a female name
- Ranked #253 in 2024
- 1,259 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,259 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Noa on both sides of the split. Of the 7,752 people counted with this name, 2,084 were male (26.9%) and 5,668 were female (73.1%).
Popularity
Noa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Noa 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 5,716 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
Noa 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 Noa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Noas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Noa, while West Virginia, Rhode Island, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 226 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Noa
The name Noa has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, with its earliest roots dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "navah," which means "motion" or "to move." The name is often associated with concepts of movement, change, and progress.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, the name Noa appears as a variation of the name Noah, the biblical figure who built the ark and survived the great flood. This connection suggests that the name Noa may have been used as a shortened form or nickname for Noah in ancient Hebrew tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Noa can be found in the Book of Numbers, where it is mentioned as the name of a daughter of Zelophehad. This reference dates back to around the 13th century BCE, indicating the name's long-standing presence in the Hebrew language and culture.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Noa. In the 1st century BCE, Noa ben Hinnah was a Jewish scholar and scribe who is mentioned in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism.
During the Middle Ages, Noa Acher was a 12th-century Jewish philosopher and poet from Spain. His works explored themes of mysticism and spirituality, contributing to the intellectual and cultural landscape of his time.
In more recent times, Noa Rat was an Israeli singer-songwriter born in 1953. She gained international recognition for her fusion of Israeli and Middle Eastern musical styles, and her songs often carried messages of peace and unity.
Another prominent figure with the name Noa is Noa Kirel, an Israeli singer and actress born in 1991. She rose to fame as a child star and has since established a successful career in both music and television.
Lastly, Noa Deane is a Australian professional surfer born in 1995. He has competed in various prestigious surfing competitions and is known for his innovative and stylish approach to the sport.
People
Noa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Noa 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
Noa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Noa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,547 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Noa 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 27,318 US residents.
Is Noa a common name?
We classify Noa as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,663 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Noa most popular?
The single biggest year for Noa was 2024, when 1,487 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Noa is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Noa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,754 people with the name Noa, or 2.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,927 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 Noa 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 Noa?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Noa on both sides of the split. Of the 7,752 people counted with this name, 2,084 were male (26.9%) and 5,668 were female (73.1%). 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 Noa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Noa is White at 57.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.7%) and Two or More Races (9.8%). 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 Noa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Noa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.3% (4,444 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 Noa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Noa a female name?
Yes, 82.6% of people registered as Noa 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 Noa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Noa 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 Noa 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 share the name Noa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.