Fun Facts About the Name Ofa
- 60 babies named Ofa: U.S. records list 60 babies given the name Ofa from 1880 through 2025. Even 5 boys received the name Ofa - about 1 boy for every 11 girls.
What Does the Name Ofa Mean?
Ofa is a Polynesian name, used especially in Tonga, that means "love" or "compassion." It comes from the Tongan word ʻofa, the ordinary Tongan noun for love. The Tongan spelling starts with the ʻokina, the glottal stop written as a small raised mark; English spelling normally drops it and writes the name simply as Ofa.
The word belongs to a family of related Polynesian terms for affection. Samoan alofa, Hawaiian aloha, and Māori aroha are cognates, and the ancestral Polynesian form is usually reconstructed as *qalofa. The Tongan form is set apart from those relatives by the absence of the l that Samoan, Hawaiian, and Māori keep. Because the name is simply the everyday word for love, its meaning is literal rather than symbolic.
Similar spellings exist in West Africa with no connection to the Polynesian name. In Yoruba, ọfà means "arrow," and Offa is a town in Kwara State, Nigeria.
Ofa Name History & Origins
The name rests on an old Polynesian word for love and pity. Tongan ʻofa, Samoan alofa, Hawaiian aloha, and Māori aroha all point back to an ancestral form reconstructed as *qalofa, which means the word was already in use among speakers of the ancestral Polynesian language before those languages separated. Each language then developed its own version of the word, and only some of them, Tongan among them, use it as a personal name.
Tongan naming draws heavily on ordinary vocabulary, so ʻofa became a given name in the same way other common words did, and it has been borne by Tongan men and women. Compounds built from it occur as names as well. The glottal stop at the beginning of the Tongan form is frequently left off in English-language use, which is why the name usually appears as Ofa outside Tonga.
Christianity enlarged the word's place in Tongan life. Nineteenth-century missionaries and their Tongan colleagues translated the Bible into Tongan, and ʻofa is the word used there for "love"; the phrase ʻOku ʻofa ʻa e ʻOtua ("God is love") is a familiar example. The name is now found in Tonga and in Tongan communities in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
How Popular is the Name Ofa?
Ofa 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 1993. Its best rank was #4,874 in 1922.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | #14,695 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2021 | #14,790 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2012 | #16,354 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #15,926 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #9,305 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1989 | #11,890 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #11,469 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1981 | #11,615 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1922 | #4,874 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | #12,819 | 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.
Most Popular Girl Names That Start with O
Short Girl Names That Start with O
How the Name Ofa Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are patient, persevering and strong willed. You are a good student, absorbing knowledge easily and retaining it well. You are either a saint or a sinner. You tend to hold things inside and suffer in silence. You are frank, methodical and believe in law, system and order.
Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.
✦ Ofa's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Ofa's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.