Kawena
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- kah-VEH-nah
- Origin
- Hawaiian
- US rank, 2025
- #14,937 for girls
Kawena is a girls' name of Hawaiian origin, meaning “the glow”. In 2025 it ranked 14,937th for girls in the US (5 babies).
What does Kawena mean?
Hawaiian: Hawaiian, from wena 'glow'
“the glow”
Mary Kawena Pukui was a celebrated Hawaiian scholar who co-wrote the standard Hawaiian Dictionary.
Is Kawena a girl's or a boy's name?
Kawena is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 5 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Kawena in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 14,937th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 5 about 1 in 320,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 5 girls in the US were named Kawena, making it the 14,937th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 10,245th. Its busiest year was 2005, with 14 girls. It first appears in the records in 1988.
Half of all the girls named Kawena in the US since 1880 were born between 2004 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.
Kawena in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #14,937 |
| 2024 | 5 | #15,288 |
| 2023 | 8 | #11,164 |
| 2022 | 7 | #12,237 |
| 2021 | 8 | #11,141 |
| 2020 | 9 | #10,245 |
| 2019 | 7 | #12,442 |
| 2018 | 7 | #12,459 |
| 2017 | 9 | #10,685 |
| 2016 | 5 | #16,210 |
| 2015 | 7 | #13,001 |
| 2014 | 10 | #10,124 |
| 2013 | 8 | #11,964 |
| 2012 | 0 | – |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 6 | #14,953 |
| 2009 | 6 | #15,236 |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 6 | #15,485 |
| 2006 | 7 | #13,601 |
| 2005 | 14 | #7,886 |
| 2004 | 8 | #11,617 |
| 2003 | 5 | #15,777 |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 6 | #13,147 |
| 1999 | 5 | #14,403 |
| 1998 | 0 | – |
| 1997 | 5 | #13,719 |
| 1996 | 7 | #10,562 |
| 1995 | 5 | #13,380 |
| 1994 | 0 | – |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 0 | – |
| 1991 | 0 | – |
| 1990 | 0 | – |
| 1989 | 0 | – |
| 1988 | 6 | #10,381 |
Names like Kawena
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Kailani, Kiara, Kalani, Mckenna, Kennedy, Sienna, Briella, Kaylani, Keyla, Meilani, Kamora, Kiana
Names related to Kawena
More Hawaiian names
Kai, Leilani, Koa, Nalani, Makai, Keanu, Koah, Kailany, Leilany, Laylani, Kaleo, Lani, Luana, Leylani, Lailani, Makoa
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, “Kawena: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kawena, updated 20 October 2026.