Fun Facts About the Name Mana
- 836 babies named Mana: U.S. records list 836 babies given the name Mana from 1880 through 2025. Even 134 boys received the name Mana - about 1 boy for every 5 girls.
What Does the Name Mana Mean?
Mana has more than one independent origin, so it does not have a single meaning. In the Polynesian languages of the Pacific - Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, and Tongan among them - mana means spiritual power, authority, or prestige: an effective force or standing that can belong to a person, an ancestor, a place, or an object. That is the sense the word carries when it is used as a given name in Pacific communities.
The Japanese name Mana is unrelated to the Polynesian word. It is usually a girl's name, and like most Japanese personal names it has no fixed meaning, because families write it with kanji of their own choosing: 真奈, 麻奈, and 愛奈 are all read Mana but carry different senses. 真 commonly means "true" or "genuine," while 奈 is often chosen mainly for its sound. The same sound, 真名 (mana), is also an older Japanese word for "true name" - characters used to write Japanese, as opposed to the phonetic kana - but that is a separate word, not the source of the personal name.
Mana (مانا) is also a girl's name in Persian. It is a separate name from the Pacific and Japanese ones, and its meaning is not settled: it is variously explained as "like" or "resembling," and as "lasting" or "enduring."
Mana Name History & Origins
The Pacific word mana is recorded across a wide area, from Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Hawaii to Samoa and Tonga, and related concepts appear in Melanesian languages as well. English speakers met it mainly through 19th-century missionary and anthropological writing; the British anthropologist Robert Henry Codrington described mana at length in The Melanesians (1891), presenting it as a power that could attach to people, things, and places. That scholarly usage carried the word into general English, and in the 20th century it became a standard term in fantasy fiction and role-playing games for magical energy. Alongside the general word, Mana is used as a personal name in the Pacific and among Pacific Islanders living elsewhere.
The Japanese name Mana belongs to the common pattern of short girls' names ending in -na, such as Nana, Kana, and Hina. Because Japanese personal names are written with kanji chosen by the family, a person named Mana may use any of several spellings, and no single traditional meaning is attached to the name as a whole.
Mana (مانا) has a separate history in Iran as a girl's name, unrelated to either the Pacific or the Japanese name.
How Popular is the Name Mana?
Mana 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 2009. Its best rank was #3,576 in 1917.
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 | #5,341 | 24 | 0.0015% |
| 2024 | #7,095 | 16 | 0.0010% |
| 2023 | #8,317 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2022 | #6,128 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 2021 | #5,340 | 24 | 0.0015% |
| 2020 | #6,813 | 17 | 0.0011% |
| 2019 | #5,552 | 23 | 0.0014% |
| 2018 | #5,719 | 22 | 0.0013% |
| 2017 | #5,136 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 2016 | #7,480 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2015 | #5,401 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2014 | #6,349 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2013 | #5,427 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2012 | #6,038 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 2011 | #5,150 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 2010 | #5,535 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2009 | #5,327 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 2008 | #7,620 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2007 | #7,958 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2006 | #6,746 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2005 | #7,762 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2004 | #5,486 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 2003 | #6,219 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2002 | #7,680 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2001 | #7,192 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2000 | #11,392 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #13,754 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #8,359 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1997 | #7,572 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1995 | #9,236 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1994 | #11,296 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1993 | #11,304 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1992 | #9,209 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1991 | #6,462 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1990 | #7,142 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1989 | #7,810 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1987 | #10,686 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #7,490 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1985 | #10,105 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #8,733 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1983 | #6,503 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1982 | #9,950 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1978 | #8,177 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1976 | #8,783 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1959 | #5,978 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1958 | #5,838 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1932 | #4,836 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1923 | #5,420 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1917 | #3,576 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #11,505 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #6,331 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2023 | #7,137 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2022 | #8,731 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2020 | #6,877 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2019 | #7,992 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2018 | #10,347 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2016 | #7,940 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2015 | #10,229 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2014 | #9,315 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2013 | #6,878 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2012 | #8,612 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2011 | #10,348 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2006 | #11,534 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #12,062 | 5 | 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 Mana 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.
You are always looking for an opportunity to achieve financial and emotional security. You are basically peacemaker. You understand the law of harmony and desire to balance your life with those around you. You may feel incomplete without someone to share your love, ideals, wealth or work. You can be very sensitive and could appear a bit shy and perceptive. You have developed intuition, patience and the ability to nurture others. You can achieve the state of happiness if you are willing to accept your needs in a complimentary relationship and go to create them.
✦ Mana's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Mana's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.