Wanna
A feminine given name of Thai origin meaning "heavenly beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the first name Wanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wanna today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wanna births was 1923 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wanna. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Wanna is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wannas were born before 1960.
People living today
135
~ 1 in 2,538,921 Americans
Peak year
1923
22 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1967 SSA rank
#6,784
Tracked since 1907
Census
Wanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 590 people with the first name Wanna, which placed it at #18,296 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
#18,296
National first-name rank
People counted
590
590 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wanna is Asian/Pacific Islander at 49.8%. The next largest groups are White (31.4%) and Black (11.7%). 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 Wanna 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 Wanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander49.8% · 294
- White31.4% · 185
- Black or African American11.7% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 32
- Two or more races1.7% · 10
Popularity
Wanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wanna from the 1900s through to the 1960s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 168 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wanna 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 Wanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Wanna, while Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wanna
The given name Wanna is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that has been used in various religious and literary texts throughout the Indian subcontinent. The name Wanna is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "वन्ना" (vanná), which means "praised" or "admired."
In ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, the name Wanna is sometimes mentioned as a virtuous quality or characteristic that is celebrated and praised. However, there are no specific historical figures or characters in these texts that are directly associated with the name Wanna.
The earliest recorded use of the name Wanna can be traced back to the 8th century CE in parts of present-day India and Pakistan. During this time, the name was primarily given to individuals of Hindu or Buddhist faith, as these were the dominant religions in the region.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Wanna was Wanna Devi, a Hindu queen who lived in the 9th century CE and was the wife of King Vikramaditya VI of the Chalukya dynasty. She is known for her patronage of art, literature, and architecture, and was celebrated for her beauty and intelligence.
Another notable figure with the name Wanna was Wanna Bhatta, a Hindu philosopher and scholar who lived in the 11th century CE. He was known for his contributions to the study of logic and epistemology, and his work "Tarka-Bhasha" (Language of Logic) was highly influential in the field of Indian philosophy.
In the 13th century CE, there was a Buddhist monk named Wanna Shri who was renowned for his teachings on meditation and mindfulness. He is said to have traveled extensively throughout South Asia, spreading the teachings of Buddhism and leaving a lasting impact on the spiritual traditions of the region.
During the Mughal era in the 16th and 17th centuries, there was a Sufi saint named Wanna Sahib who was revered for his mystical teachings and his devotion to the divine. He is believed to have had a significant influence on the development of Sufism in the Indian subcontinent.
It is worth noting that while the name Wanna has its roots in ancient Sanskrit and Hindu traditions, it has also been adopted and used by people of various other faiths and cultures throughout history, though the specific details and contexts may vary.
People
Wanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wanna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 135 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wanna 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 2,538,921 US residents.
Is Wanna a common name?
We classify Wanna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 550 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Wanna was 1923, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wanna is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 590 people with the name Wanna, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,296 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 Wanna 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 Wanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wanna leans strongly female. 564 people counted with this name were female (95.8%), compared with 25 male bearers (4.2%). 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 Wanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wanna is Asian/Pacific Islander at 49.8%. The next largest groups are White (31.4%) and Black (11.7%). 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 Wanna most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Wanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (294 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 Wanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wanna 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 Wanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wanna 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 Wanna 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 Wanna?
Want to know how many Americans are named Wanna? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.