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Lani

#1,603 in 2025Girls' name

Sky; royalty, through Lani

Lani has been given to 7,556 babies in the U.S. since 1917. In 2025 it ranked #1,603 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1979, with 143 recorded.

Babies named Lani, 2025

1 in 25,300

Lani over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Lani: meaning, origin, and history

Sky; royalty, through Lani

Hawaiian

What Lani means

Lani belongs to the name family reached through Lani → Lani. Its meaning is “sky; royalty”.

Origin, language, and formation

Lani is used in English and Hawaiian. Its origins include Hawaiian.

Lani comes through Hawaiian Lani.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Lani.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Hawaiian, Lani is pronounced /ˈla.ni/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,373 girls were recorded with the name Lani between 1917 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 143 in 1979; its best national rank was #876 in 1947.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,210 in 2020 to #1,603 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,673 in 2015 to #1,603 in 2025.

In the United States, 183 boys were recorded with the name Lani between 1939 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1961; its best national rank was #2,484 in 1946.

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 Lani?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 25,300
131 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 12,300
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,603
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
17,542 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Lani 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 17,542 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Lani. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Lanis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Lani was born before 1983 — so the typical Lani is around 42 today.

Median birth year
1983
About 42 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
15.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
32.9%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
6,731
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 15.5% of all recorded uses (1,144).

Is Lani 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
+302
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+607
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,070
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.96×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
91.6%
Peak was 1979 (143)
Years since peak
46
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
9.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#876
1947

Spellings of Lani

Lani is not the most common spelling — Ann is, with 13.3% against Lani's 0.21%.

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 Lani is used

Across 2016–2025, Lani was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 9,091 girls, against 1 in 16,158 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in 100,000).

111 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 9,091
  2. 2Florida1 in 12,500
  3. 3Texas1 in 16,667
  4. 4New York1 in 25,000
  5. 5Georgia1 in 33,333
  6. 6Tennessee1 in 33,333
  7. 7Indiana1 in 50,000
  8. 8Virginia1 in 50,000

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.

Lani around the world

Where Lani ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,271
    in 2025
  • France
    2007–2011
    #5,553
    in 2011
  • Canada
    2024–2024
    #3,027
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1972–2013
    #328
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Lani

People whose public names include Lani, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Lani in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Lani. Linked forms have their own page here.

LanaLaneLeniLanniLiani

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Lani by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,603
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 607
Best rank ever
#876
1947
Peak year
1979
143 that year
First recorded
1917
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,373
Count in 2025
131

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,484
1946
Peak year
1961
11 that year
First recorded
1939
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
183
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Lani

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

LaneLanieLaneyDaniLanaeLandryLannaLanaEmaniLanitaLaniyaShaniAvaniRaniAmaniLanoraJaniMalaniLaniaAilaniNalaniAniLanyaAlani

Names with a curve like Lani

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Lani, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MoiraRosarioStarrBrigidRayleneDariaRosalindaRonniLinneaSuzannaAidaBronwyn

Sibling names for Lani

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

Explore around Lani

Top names of 1979, Lani's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1947Girls' names starting with L