Makena
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- muh-KEN-a
- US rank, 2025
- #2,719 for girls
Makena is a girls' name, meaning “happy one”. In 2025 it ranked 2,719th for girls in the US (63 babies).
What does Makena mean?
Kikuyu name from Kenya; also a spelling of McKenna
“happy one”
A Kikuyu name from Kenya, also used in the US as a spelling of the Irish surname McKenna.
Is Makena a girl's or a boy's name?
Makena is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 63 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Makena in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 2,719th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 63 about 1 in 26,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Falling down 38% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 63 girls in the US were named Makena, making it the 2,719th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,704th. Its busiest year was 2005, with 381 girls. It first appears in the records in 1984.
2025 had fewer girls named Makena than any year since 1994.
Half of all the girls named Makena in the US since 1880 were born between 2003 and 2014, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 112 girls in the US were given Makena or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #1,566, up from #2,719 for this spelling alone.
- Makena 63
- Mackenna 49
Makena in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 63 | #2,719 |
| 2024 | 97 | #2,011 |
| 2023 | 115 | #1,774 |
| 2022 | 108 | #1,870 |
| 2021 | 115 | #1,768 |
| 2020 | 119 | #1,704 |
| 2019 | 150 | #1,465 |
| 2018 | 178 | #1,284 |
| 2017 | 207 | #1,182 |
| 2016 | 224 | #1,132 |
| 2015 | 226 | #1,126 |
| 2014 | 201 | #1,215 |
| 2013 | 252 | #994 |
| 2012 | 255 | #988 |
| 2011 | 236 | #1,045 |
| 2010 | 294 | #899 |
| 2009 | 281 | #949 |
| 2008 | 323 | #863 |
| 2007 | 303 | #906 |
| 2006 | 341 | #804 |
| 2005 | 381 | #717 |
| 2004 | 297 | #831 |
| 2003 | 298 | #824 |
| 2002 | 306 | #774 |
| 2001 | 197 | #1,075 |
| 2000 | 201 | #1,040 |
| 1999 | 165 | #1,172 |
| 1998 | 140 | #1,283 |
| 1997 | 123 | #1,384 |
| 1996 | 85 | #1,750 |
| 1995 | 68 | #2,001 |
| 1994 | 60 | #2,204 |
| 1993 | 37 | #3,103 |
| 1992 | 42 | #2,825 |
| 1991 | 14 | #6,247 |
| 1990 | 13 | #6,459 |
| 1989 | 11 | #6,949 |
| 1988 | 14 | #5,593 |
| 1987 | 6 | #9,820 |
| 1986 | 8 | #7,745 |
| 1985 | 7 | #8,315 |
| 1984 | 7 | #8,149 |
Names like Makena
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Mckenna, Kiara, Makayla, Sienna, Dakota, Fiona, Brianna, Mikayla, Camila, Amira, Jimena, Madilyn
Other spellings of Makena
Names related to Makena
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, “Makena: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/makena, updated 20 October 2026.