Manoa as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Manoa

What is the meaning of the name Manoa ?

The baby name Manoa is a Unisex name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced Hawaiian: /ˈmaː.no.a/ (MAH-no-ah); Common English: /məˈnoʊə/ (muh-NOH-uh).

Manoa is Hawaiian in Origin.

Manoa is a cross-cultural given name with two principal sources. In Hawaiian, Mānoa (with kahakō) is a celebrated valley on O‘ahu; the word mānoa describes something broad, deep, or thickly woven, hence senses of “vast, expansive, solid.” In the Hebrew Bible, Manoah (מָנוֹחַ), father of Samson in Judges, derives from the root nuach “to rest,” yielding the meaning “rest, repose.” Spelled without the final h, Manoa blends these traditions.

Recorded as Manoah in early Jewish and Christian usage and adopted by some English Puritans, the name surfaces in colonial and 19th‑century records, while the Hawaiian form gained currency locally from the late 1800s, inspired by the valley and later by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Variants include Mānoa, Manoah, and Manoach. Usage today is uncommon but familiar in Hawaiʻi and among those seeking a biblical yet place‑evocative choice.