How popular is the baby name Kiwa in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Kiwa.

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Popularity of the baby name Kiwa


Posts that mention the name Kiwa

Popular baby names (and Maori baby names) in New Zealand, 2023

Flag of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand

Last year, the island nation of New Zealand welcomed a total of 57,889 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Charlotte and Noah.

Here are New Zealand’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Charlotte, 209 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 184
  3. Isla, 179
  4. Olivia, 155
  5. Harper, 150
  6. Willow, 145
  7. Lily, 144
  8. Ava, 143 (tie)
  9. Ella, 143 (tie)
  10. Hazel, 141
  11. Mila, 138
  12. Evelyn, 135 (3-way tie)
  13. Mia, 135 (3-way tie)
  14. Sophie, 135 (3-way tie)
  15. Isabella, 130
  16. Aria, 125
  17. Ruby, 122
  18. Grace, 121
  19. Millie, 119
  20. Florence, 110
  21. Lucy, 108
  22. Ivy, 105
  23. Chloe, 101
  24. Zoe, 100
  25. Maeve, 98
  26. Daisy, 96
  27. Matilda, 95
  28. Sadie, 93 (tie)
  29. Sophia, 93 (tie)
  30. Emily, 92 (3-way tie)
  31. Freya, 92 (3-way tie)
  32. Luna, 92 (3-way tie)
  33. Olive, 88
  34. Georgia, 82 (tie)
  35. Maia, 82 (tie)
  36. Poppy, 81
  37. Frankie, 80 (tie)
  38. Violet, 80 (tie)
  39. Mackenzie, 79
  40. Ellie, 78
  41. Riley, 77
  42. Aurora, 76
  43. Bella, 74
  44. Madison, 70 (tie)
  45. Penelope, 70 (tie)
  46. Kaia, 69 (tie)
  47. Zara, 69 (tie)
  48. Billie, 68 (tie)
  49. Quinn, 68 (tie)
  50. Layla, 67

Boy names

  1. Noah, 267 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 247
  3. Luca, 207
  4. Jack, 194
  5. Leo, 189
  6. Theodore, 186
  7. George, 177
  8. Henry, 172
  9. Charlie, 163
  10. Hudson, 162
  11. Arthur, 158
  12. Arlo, 156
  13. Elijah, 153
  14. William, 147
  15. James, 146 (tie)
  16. Lucas, 146 (tie)
  17. Liam, 143
  18. Thomas, 142
  19. Theo, 135
  20. Oscar, 131
  21. Cooper, 122
  22. Beau, 119
  23. Hugo, 115
  24. Ethan, 114
  25. Ezra, 113 (tie)
  26. Mason, 113 (tie)
  27. Archie, 111 (tie)
  28. Levi, 111 (tie)
  29. Max, 110
  30. Carter, 106
  31. Felix, 105 (tie)
  32. Finn, 105 (tie)
  33. Alexander, 102
  34. Lachlan, 97
  35. Asher, 90 (3-way tie)
  36. Hunter, 90 (3-way tie)
  37. Louie, 90 (3-way tie)
  38. Luke, 87
  39. Benjamin, 84
  40. Harry, 83
  41. Jackson, 82
  42. Archer, 81
  43. Micah, 79 (tie)
  44. Riley, 79 (tie)
  45. Caleb, 78 (3-way tie)
  46. Isaac, 78 (3-way tie)
  47. Louis, 78 (3-way tie)
  48. Austin, 77
  49. Luka, 75
  50. Samuel, 74

And what about Maori names specifically?

Currently, the top Maori baby names in New Zealand are Aroha/Te Aroha for girls and Ariki/Te Ariki for boys. In Maori, the word aroha means “love” or “affection,” the word ariki means “chieftain” or “leader,” and the word te (in these two cases) is the article “the.”

Here are New Zealand’s top 10 Maori girl names and top 10 Maori boy names:

Maori girl names

  1. Aroha/Te Aroha, 164 baby girls
  2. Amaia, 110
  3. Maia, 103
  4. Anahera, 85
  5. Moana, 70
  6. Manaia, 68
  7. Ataahua, 54
  8. Marama, 51
  9. Atarangi, 41
  10. Tui, 39

Maori boy names

  1. Ariki/Te Ariki, 111 baby boys
  2. Wiremu, 86
  3. Rawiri, 80
  4. Mikaere, 65
  5. Nikau, 63
  6. Koa, 62 (tie)
  7. Manaia, 62 (tie)
  8. Manaaki, 59
  9. Kiwa, 45 (tie)
  10. Kaitoa, 45 (tie)

Please note that the Maori rankings don’t cover the calendar year 2023, as the national rankings do. Instead, they cover births from July 10, 2023, to June 30, 2024. (These dates coincide with Matariki, a.k.a. Maori New Year.)

Finally, here’s a link to New Zealand’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

P.S. Did you know that New Zealand’s closest geographic neighbor in the Pacific is New Caledonia (to the north)?

Sources: Top Baby Names – New Zealand Government, Most common Maori baby names in 2023/24 released for Matariki – Te Ao Maori News, Te Aka Maori Dictionary, New Caledonia – New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Image: Adapted from Flag of New Zealand (public domain)

Popular baby names (and Maori baby names) in New Zealand, 2021

Flag of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand

According to New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs, the most popular baby names in the country last year were Charlotte and Oliver.

Here are New Zealand’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Charlotte, 227 baby girls
  2. Isla, 214
  3. Amelia, 206
  4. Olivia, 185
  5. Ava, 184
  6. Willow, 180
  7. Lily, 174
  8. Isabella, 171
  9. Mila, 170
  10. Ella, 165

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 308 baby boys
  2. Noah, 265
  3. Jack, 235
  4. Leo, 234
  5. George, 222
  6. Charlie, 200
  7. Lucas, 190
  8. Theodore, 187
  9. William, 181
  10. Luca, 172

In the girls’ top 10, Isabella and Mila replaced Harper and Sophie.

In the boys’ top 10, Theodore and Luca replaced Thomas and Hunter.

Manaia comes in as the most evenly-split gender-neutral name, at a 50/50 split for boys and girls, with Quinn sitting just below the top of the list.

The top Maori baby names, according to the Te Taura Whiri Maori Language Commission, were…

Maori girl (kotiro) names

  1. Mia, 164 baby girls
  2. Aria, 120
  3. Maia, 97
  4. Aurora, 86
  5. Amaia, 63
  6. Kiara, 52
  7. Kaia, 50
  8. Amara, 44 (tie)
  9. Kora, 44 (tie)
  10. Maria, 43

Maori boy (tama) names

  1. Nikau, 93 baby boys
  2. Ari, 62
  3. Niko, 47
  4. Koa, 46
  5. Mateo, 45
  6. Keanu, 44
  7. Mikaere, 41 (tie)
  8. Manaia, 41 (tie)
  9. Kairo, 27 (tie)
  10. Kiwa, 27 (tie)

It should be noted, however, that not all of these “Maori” names are, in fact, Maori names. They were picked out of New Zealand’s national rankings because they “include vowels and consonants that appear in the Maori alphabet” — not because they correspond to actual Maori words. This is how non-Maori names like Aurora, Maria, Ari and Keanu end up in the Maori rankings.

(The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages recently wrote about the difficulties involved in identifying Maori names, and revealed that he might stop releasing Maori rankings altogether after 2021.)

In 2020, the top two names overall in New Zealand were Isla and Oliver.

Sources: Top Baby Names in New Zealand, Charlotte and Oliver were New Zealand’s top baby names in 2021, Most popular Maori baby names for 2021, Top Maori baby names don’t have to be Maori words

Image: Adapted from Flag of New Zealand (public domain)