Fun Facts About the Name Manoa
- 38 babies named Manoa: U.S. records list 38 babies given the name Manoa from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Manoa Mean?
Manoa has two unrelated origins that happen to be spelled the same way. In Hawaiian, mānoa is an adjective meaning "thick, solid, vast, deep," used of dense forest and broad stretches of land; the mark over the first a shows that the vowel is held longer. Its best-known use is as a place name - Mānoa Valley and the Mānoa district of Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu.
The second origin is biblical. Manoa is a form of Manoah (Hebrew מָנוֹחַ), the father of Samson in the Book of Judges. That name is built on the root n-w-ḥ, "to rest," and is usually translated "rest." The Hebrew name and the Hawaiian word are not related to each other.
Manoa Name History & Origins
As a Hawaiian word, mānoa belongs to a set of terms describing thickness, solidity, and depth, and it survives most visibly in place names. Mānoa Valley, inland of Waikīkī, gives its name to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and to the surrounding Honolulu neighborhood, and the word appears in other Hawaiian place names as well. The personal name comes from this Hawaiian word.
The biblical Manoah was a man of the tribe of Dan, from Zorah, whose childless wife was told by an angel that she would bear Samson; the account is in Judges 13. English Bibles keep the spelling Manoah, while Spanish versions use Manoa and French versions use forms such as Manué or Manoach. The shorter Spanish spelling is one route by which the name has been passed on in Spanish-speaking countries.
A third and separate Manoa is the legendary city of gold in the Guiana story of El Dorado. Sir Walter Raleigh's 1596 account of his voyage to Guiana describes a great golden city called Manoa that the Spanish knew as El Dorado. This is a place name from South American legend, with no connection to the Hawaiian word or the Hebrew name.
How Popular is the Name Manoa?
Manoa has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2025. Its best rank was #9,383 in 2016.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #9,412 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2022 | #11,765 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #9,383 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2009 | #13,753 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2008 | #13,843 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2006 | #11,536 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Manoa Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have psychic power. You can carry on for others with joy. You have a receptive nature and may bear burdens for others. You are pragmatic, thorough, strong-willed, practical and stubborn at times. You are hard working, often martyr to duty. You like home and security above all. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Manoa's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Manoa's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.