What does Makana mean in Hawaiian?
Makana is a Hawaiian unisex name that means gift, reward. The name comes from makana (gift). It is pronounced mah-KAH-nah, with 3 syllables. The stressed syllable is written in capitals.
Makana belongs with other Hawaiian names about gift.
Is there a Hawaiian name meaning "gift from God"?
Makana is the Hawaiian word for gift, and it is the documented name: Wiktionary lists it among Hawaiian given names, and U.S. Social Security records show 239 babies given it from 2014 to 2023. It means gift or reward. It does not say who the gift is from.
Name lists that translate a Hawaiian name as "gift from God" or "heavenly gift" are usually pointing at Makanalani or Kamakanalani, which join makana to lani. This site lists both, and both are modern combinations of common name elements, not traditional names. Lani also does not mean God. It means heaven, sky or royal, so the honest reading of Makanalani is "heavenly gift". The Hawaiian word for God is Akua.
If "gift from God" is the meaning you want, Makana on its own is the established name, and many families give it with that sense in mind. A longer combination carries the meaning more literally, but it would be a name you are creating rather than one with a history.
The words inside Makana
makana means gift, present, reward and appears in 2 Hawaiian names, among them Kamakana.
How to pronounce Makana
Say every vowel. The vowels in Makana are a as in “father”. See the full Hawaiian pronunciation guide.
Is Makana a boy or girl name?
Makana is listed here as unisex. Of the 801 U.S. babies given it, 40% were girls and 60% boys.
How often Makana is given in the U.S.
Social Security records show 801 U.S. babies named Makana from 1986 to 2023 (320 girls, 481 boys). It appears in 32 of those 38 years. Its peak was 2007, with 43. The 2014 to 2023 total of 239 is fewer than in all earlier years combined. In Hawaiʻi itself, 266 babies born in the state were named Makana from 1993 to 2021, with a peak of 18 in 2010. 51 were born there from 2012 to 2021.
How well recorded is Makana?
Makana has its own entry among Wiktionary’s documented Hawaiian given names.