Nainoa
Masculine
Nainoa is a Hawaiian name, and its best-known bearer navigated a canoe from Hawaii to Tahiti without instruments in 1980.
How old is the name Nainoa?
Nainoa first appears in US birth records in 1985 — 40 years ago. The typical Nainoa alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 600 people named Nainoa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nainoa most popular?
Nainoa peaked in 2002, reaching #2817 nationally. Today it ranks #4539, 1,722 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Nainoa
Nainoa Thompson learned traditional Polynesian wayfinding — reading stars, swells, birds and cloud — and navigated the Hokule'a from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1980 without instruments, the first Hawaiian to do so in six centuries. The voyage was a turning point in the Hawaiian cultural revival. The name is used in Hawaii and appears in American records from the 1990s.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The name is Hawaiian and its derivation is not securely recorded; readings connecting it to nai, to conquer, and noa, free, circulate without confirmation. Hawaiian names are often given with a meaning known to the family.
Pronouncing Nainoa
ny-NOH-ah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Every vowel is sounded in Hawaiian.
Nicknames for Nainoa
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
- 1985
- Most boys named
- 200233 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2817reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- −8.3%22 in 2025, from 24
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.
Nainoa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nainoa in Hawaiian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Hawaii, California.
Nainoas among us
people named Nainoa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 77,640 born in 2025 was named Nainoa
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 Kort test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nainoa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kort climbed just as high around 1958, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kort's path sketches the road Nainoa is walking now.
Nainoa 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
Nainoa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nainoa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A genuinely remarkable modern bearer stands behind it.
- Noa is a complete name in its own right and a ready short form.
- Every vowel is sounded, so it reads correctly at first sight in most languages.
- The meaning is not securely recorded.
- It is a Hawaiian name, and Hawaiian families have views about its use by outsiders.
- It is unfamiliar outside Hawaii and will be spelled out constantly.
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What they receive
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Nainoa
Masculine · #4539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nainoas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Nainoa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nainoa in 2025?
- Nainoa ranks #4539 among US boy names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nainoa?
- About 1 in every 77,640 US boys born in 2025 was named Nainoa — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nainoa with classmates?
- Nainoa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nainoa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nels#4539 · Gabe#4539 · Michel#4539 · Elroy#4539 · Orlin#4539 · Pearce#4539 · Josemaria#4539 · Napoleon#4539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nainoa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nainoa and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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