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Malani

#374 in 2025Girls' name

Variant of Melanie

Malani has been given to 7,117 babies in the U.S. since 1977. In 2025 it ranked #374 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2024, with 943 recorded.

Babies named Malani, 2025

1 in 4,030

Malani over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
02505007501K18801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Malani: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Melanie

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Malani means

Malani is a variant of Melanie.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Malani → Melanie. The family’s meaning is “black, dark”, recorded in English with the source elements mélas.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Melanie.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,112 girls were recorded with the name Malani between 1977 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 943 in 2024; its best national rank was #330 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #494 in 2020 to #374 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,252 in 2015 to #374 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Malani between 2022 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2022; its best national rank was #13,606 in 2022.

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 Malani?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 4,030
822 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 1,960
0.05% of girls
Rank, 2025
#374
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
2,797 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Malani 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 1002%
School of 50012%

Put another way: gather 2,797 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Malani. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Malanis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Malani was born before 2021 — so the typical Malani is around 4 today.

Median birth year
2021
About 4 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
67.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
99.2%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
7,112
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 67.4% of all recorded uses (4,793).

Is Malani 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
−44
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+120
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+878
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
4.19×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
87.2%
Peak was 2024 (943)
Years since peak
1
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
26.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#330
2024

Spellings of Malani

Malani is not the most common spelling — Melanie is, with 43.2% against Malani's 1.2%.

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 Malani is used

Across 2016–2025, Malani was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 746 girls, against 1 in 2,200 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 14,286).

7134 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Louisiana1 in 746
  2. 2Mississippi1 in 935
  3. 3South Carolina1 in 971
  4. 4Georgia1 in 1,031
  5. 5North Carolina1 in 1,220
  6. 6Alabama1 in 1,250
  7. 7Delaware1 in 1,316
  8. 8Illinois1 in 1,408

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.

Geographically, Malani is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 63% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Malani around the world

Where Malani 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
    2020–2025
    #4,867
    in 2025
  • South Australia
    2009–2009
    #818
    in 2009

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Malani by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#374
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 120
Best rank ever
#330
2024
Peak year
2024
943 that year
First recorded
1977
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,112
Count in 2025
822

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#13,606
2022
Peak year
2022
5 that year
First recorded
2022
Last recorded
2022
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Malani

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

MalayaMaliahMaleahMalikaMalinaMalenaMallieMalkaMalissaMaliyaMalayahMalorieMalakAilaniNalaniMelaniMaliyahMalihaKalaniMaloryMalkyMalaikaMilaniMalana

Names with a curve like Malani

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

DreamSalemOakleeElodieNavyPalmerHaisleyEverleeLegacyAmoraReignAitana

Sibling names for Malani

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 Malani

Top names of 2024, Malani's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2024Girls' names starting with M