Kainalu
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- ky-NAH-loo
- Origin
- Hawaiian
- US rank, 2025
- #5,859 for boys
Kainalu is a boys' name of Hawaiian origin, meaning “sea + wave”. In 2025 it ranked 5,859th for boys in the US (15 babies).
What does Kainalu mean?
Hawaiian: from Hawaiian kai and nalu
“sea + wave”
Combines Hawaiian kai 'sea' and nalu 'wave, surf'.
Is Kainalu a girl's or a boy's name?
Kainalu is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 15 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Kainalu in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 5,859th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 15 about 1 in 110,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Steady up 2% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 15 boys in the US were named Kainalu, making it the 5,859th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 4,694th. Its busiest year was 2003, with 32 boys. It first appears in the records in 1991.
2025 had fewer boys named Kainalu than any year since 2019.
Half of all the boys named Kainalu in the US since 1880 were born between 2002 and 2016, the years shaded on the chart below.
Kainalu in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 15 | #5,859 |
| 2024 | 20 | #4,886 |
| 2023 | 19 | #5,070 |
| 2022 | 18 | #5,211 |
| 2021 | 18 | #5,105 |
| 2020 | 20 | #4,694 |
| 2019 | 15 | #5,808 |
| 2018 | 18 | #5,102 |
| 2017 | 23 | #4,327 |
| 2016 | 16 | #5,551 |
| 2015 | 18 | #5,056 |
| 2014 | 18 | #5,062 |
| 2013 | 15 | #5,655 |
| 2012 | 14 | #5,995 |
| 2011 | 22 | #4,354 |
| 2010 | 15 | #5,737 |
| 2009 | 23 | #4,276 |
| 2008 | 31 | #3,483 |
| 2007 | 25 | #4,009 |
| 2006 | 29 | #3,522 |
| 2005 | 27 | #3,524 |
| 2004 | 25 | #3,632 |
| 2003 | 32 | #2,989 |
| 2002 | 28 | #3,184 |
| 2001 | 19 | #4,115 |
| 2000 | 19 | #4,060 |
| 1999 | 15 | #4,531 |
| 1998 | 15 | #4,409 |
| 1997 | 24 | #3,059 |
| 1996 | 17 | #3,824 |
| 1995 | 16 | #3,848 |
| 1994 | 10 | #5,446 |
| 1993 | 12 | #4,690 |
| 1992 | 10 | #5,228 |
| 1991 | 6 | #7,263 |
Nicknames for Kainalu
- Kai 816 boys in the UK in 2025
Names like Kainalu
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Keanu, Koa, Kaleo, Kai, Makoa, Makai, Kekoa, Nakoa, Keoni, Lakai, Kailo, Nikolai
More Hawaiian names
Leilani, Kailani, Kalani, Nalani, Koah, Meilani, Kailany, Leilany, Laylani, Lani, Luana, Leylani, Lailani, Alakai, Kaelani, Noelani
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Kainalu: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kainalu, updated 20 October 2026.