Kekoa
Masculine · “the warrior”
Kekoa is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,053 boys against 22 girls since 1880.
Kekoa is the brave one in Hawaiian — ke koa, the warrior — and koa is also the tree the great canoes were carved from.
How old is the name Kekoa?
Kekoa first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Kekoa alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 2,000 people named Kekoa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kekoa most popular?
Kekoa peaked in 2017, reaching #1918 nationally. Today it ranks #2284, 366 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ke koa to Kekoa
The story of Kekoa
Koa names both a warrior and the tree whose wood made voyaging canoes, war weapons and surfboards; the association is direct rather than coincidental. Kekoa is a standard Hawaiian given name and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
the warrior, the brave one
From the Hawaiian ke, the definite article, and koa, 'warrior', 'brave' or 'bold'. Koa is also the name of Acacia koa, the hardwood used for canoes and surfboards — the tree and the warrior are the same word. The Hawaiian is documented.
How the name formed
- ke koa
- Kekoa
Related forms: Kekoa · Koa
Pronouncing Kekoa
keh-KOH-ah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Hawaiian gives every vowel a full value with no reduction.
Nicknames for Kekoa
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1972
- Most boys named
- 201775 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1918reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- +17.3%61 in 2025, from 52
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kekoa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kekoa in Hawaiian — same name
- Koa in Hawaiian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Hawaii, Washington.
Kekoas among us
people named Kekoa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 28,001 born in 2025 was named Kekoa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Gregrey test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kekoa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Gregrey climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Gregrey's path sketches the road Kekoa is walking now.
Kekoa sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Kekoa is headed
Kekoa should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kekoa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kekoa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the warrior and the canoe tree are one word is a first-rate fact.
- Koa is available as a short form that is a real Hawaiian name.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- It reads as specifically Hawaiian.
- The ke article is part of the name and cannot be dropped.
- It will need spelling out on the mainland.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kekoa to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Kekoa? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kekoa
Masculine · #2284 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kekoas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Kekoa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kekoa in 2025?
- Kekoa ranks #2284 among US boy names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kekoa?
- About 1 in every 28,001 US boys born in 2025 was named Kekoa — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kekoa with classmates?
- Kekoa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kekoa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Carsyn#2284 · Aman#2284 · Zacari#2284 · Abbas#2284 · Sulayman#2284 · Quade#2284 · Bruin#2284 · Flint#2284
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kekoa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kekoa and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle