Makena
About Makena
Makena may be one of the names with the most diverse range of possible roots. It can be a spelling variation of the Scottish surname McKenna, or a name from the East African Meru community with a happy meaning. Makena is also a Hawaiian place name that refers to a town on Maui, which may be drawn from the Hawaiian Makana, meaning "gift".
It ranked in the US Top 1000 in the 2000s and while it has since declined in use, Makena was nevertheless given to around 100 baby girls in a recent year.
Pronounced muh-KEHN-uh; ma-KAY-na.
As of October 2026, Makena ranked #2740 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #718 in 2005.
Editor's take: The name Makena is a girl's name of Irish, Hawaiian, African origin meaning "son of Kenneth; happy one, gift".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,219 | 201 | 112.5 |
| 2015 | #1,129 | 226 | 126.6 |
| 2016 | #1,136 | 224 | 126.4 |
| 2017 | #1,184 | 207 | 119.9 |
| 2018 | #1,287 | 178 | 104.6 |
| 2019 | #1,471 | 150 | 89.4 |
| 2020 | #1,711 | 119 | 73.6 |
| 2021 | #1,776 | 115 | 70.1 |
| 2022 | #1,880 | 108 | 65.8 |
| 2023 | #1,778 | 115 | 71.7 |
| 2024 | #2,046 | 95 | 58.6 |
| 2025 | #2,740 | 63 | 39.2 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Makena.
- Kyah
- Adecyn
- Rishaan
- Raeya
- Taren
- Aidrian
- Leilah
- Cailin
- Maiya
- Karis
- Karalie
- Amarah
- Zoie
- Ayden
- Lailah
- Ayleen
- Kinsey
- Renae
- Siara
- Loren
Makena on lists
Famous Makenas
- Makena Lei Gordon Carnahan
daughter of American actress Helen Hunt