Moana
Feminine · “ocean”
Moana is the ocean in Māori, Hawaiian, Tahitian and Samoan alike — one of the words that survived intact across the whole Polynesian expansion.
How old is the name Moana?
Moana first appears in US birth records in 1941 — 84 years ago. The typical Moana is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,100 people named Moana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Moana most popular?
Moana peaked in 2017, reaching #1552 nationally. Today it ranks #4067, 2,515 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Moana
Polynesian languages separated over roughly two thousand years of voyaging across a third of the planet's surface, and a small set of words came through almost untouched — moana for the deep sea is one of them, alongside the words for a canoe and a star. It is used as a personal name in New Zealand and across Polynesia, and a 2016 animated film made it internationally known.
Meaning
ocean, deep sea
From Proto-Polynesian moana, the open sea as against the lagoon or the shore; the word is essentially unchanged in Māori, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Tongan and Samoan, which is a measure of how central the thing it names was.
Pronouncing Moana
moh-AH-nah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Every vowel is sounded.
Nicknames for Moana
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
- 2016 — Moana
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1941
- Most girls named
- 2017141 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1552reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −30.0%35 in 2025, from 50
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.
Moana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Moana in Maori — same name
- Moana in Hawaiian — same name
- Moana in Samoan — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, Texas.
Moanas among us
people named Moana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 45,922 born in 2025 was named Moana
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 Montez test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Moana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Montez climbed just as high around 1917, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Montez's path sketches the road Moana is walking now.
Moana 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 Moana is headed
Moana should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Moana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Moana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning in several living languages at once, which is unusual.
- Ana and Mo are both ready short forms.
- Every vowel is sounded, so it reads correctly at first sight in most languages.
- The 2016 film is now the overwhelming association for children.
- It is a Polynesian word, and those communities have views about its use by outsiders.
- It is used for both sexes in Māori, so forms may guess wrong.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Moana 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 Moana? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Moana
Feminine · #4067 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Moanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Moana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Moana in 2025?
- Moana ranks #4067 among US girl names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Moana?
- About 1 in every 45,922 US girls born in 2025 was named Moana — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Moana with classmates?
- Moana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
- What explains the spikes and dips on Moana's chart?
- Moana climbed after 2016 — Moana.
Ranked beside Moana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eli#4067 · Peace#4067 · Medina#4067 · Darlin#4067 · Anja#4067 · Sparrow#4067 · Liani#4067 · Salina#4067
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Moana? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Moana 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