Kanani

#8,094 in 2025Girls' name

The + beauty, glory

Kanani has been given to 900 babies in the U.S. since 1964. In 2025 it ranked #8,094 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2000, with 31 recorded.

Babies named Kanani, 2025

1 in 255,000

Kanani over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kanani: meaning, origin, and history

The + beauty, glory

Hawaiian

What Kanani means

Kanani means “the + beauty, glory”, associated with ka and nani.

Origin, language, and formation

Kanani is used in Hawaiian. Its origins include Hawaiian.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Hawaiian, Kanani is pronounced /kaˈna.ni/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 895 girls were recorded with the name Kanani between 1964 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 31 in 2000; its best national rank was #3,465 in 1982.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #8,174 in 2020 to #8,094 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,582 in 2015 to #8,094 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Kanani between 1977 and 1977. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1977; its best national rank was #6,338 in 1977.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Kanani?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 255,000; 13 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 124,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #8,094; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 176,762 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Kanani sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 176,762 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kanani. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kananis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kanani was born before 2000 — so the typical Kanani is around 25 today.

Median birth year: 2000; About 25 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 22.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 47.7%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 895; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 22.9% of all recorded uses (205).

Is Kanani rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: −1,818; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: +80; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: −1,512; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.68×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 41.9%; Peak was 2000 (31)
Years since peak: 25; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 27.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #3,465; 1982

Spellings of Kanani

Kanani is not the most common spelling — Anahi is, with 11.2% against Kanani's 0.52%.

Anahi11.2%19,359
Alani10.9%18,799
Amani7.8%13,440
Kailani7.4%12,778
Kaylani6.9%11,877
Kalani5.9%10,278
Nalani4.6%7,954
Malani4.1%7,112

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Kanani is used

Across 1910–2025, Kanani was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 2,000 girls, against 1 in 53,144 across all states with data. It was least common in California (1 in —).

050 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Hawaii1 in 2,000
2California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Kanani has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kanani by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #8,094
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 80
Best rank ever: #3,465; 1982
Peak year: 2000; 31 that year
First recorded: 1964
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 895
Count in 2025: 13

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #6,338; 1977
Peak year: 1977; 5 that year
First recorded: 1977
Last recorded: 1977
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Kanani

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Kani Kansas Kanika Kaniah Kanyla Kaniya Kanaya Aolani Jelani Suhani Lelani Ehlani Xolani Dayani Tahani Kandie Ahlani Kymani Aulani Eliani Dasani Kemani Dalani Kylani

Sibling names for Kanani

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Madisen Lesli Destiney Gabriel Sydnie Savana Cinthia Shakira

For a brother

Garret Samual Donavon Shamar Jarod Brandan Zakary Coty

Explore around Kanani

Top names of 2000, Kanani's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 1982 Girls' names starting with K Hawaiian Girl Names