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Nalani

#414 in 2025Girls' name

From Hawaiian Nālani; literal meaning unconfirmed

Nalani has been given to 7,954 babies in the U.S. since 1946. In 2025 it ranked #414 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 754 recorded.

Babies named Nalani, 2025

1 in 4,400

Nalani over time, 1880–2025

Girls
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nalani: meaning, origin, and history

From Hawaiian Nālani; literal meaning unconfirmed

Hawaiian

What Nalani means

Nalani is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Nalani is used in English. Its origins include Hawaiian.

Nalani comes through Hawaiian Nālani.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Nalani is pronounced /nəˈlɑni/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,954 girls were recorded with the name Nalani between 1946 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 754 in 2025; its best national rank was #414 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #593 in 2020 to #414 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,282 in 2015 to #414 in 2025.

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 Nalani?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 4,400
754 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 2,130
0.05% of girls
Rank, 2025
#414
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
3,049 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nalani 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 50011%

Put another way: gather 3,049 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nalani. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nalanis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nalani was born before 2018 — so the typical Nalani is around 7 today.

Median birth year
2018
About 7 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
42.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
90.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
7,939
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 42.5% of all recorded uses (3,381).

Is Nalani 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
+117
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+179
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+868
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
3.97×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (754)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
17.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#414
2025

Spellings of Nalani

Nalani is not the most common spelling — Alana is, with 24.9% against Nalani's 2.9%.

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 Nalani is used

Across 2016–2025, Nalani was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 826 girls, against 1 in 2,886 across all states with data. It was least common in Utah (1 in 16,667).

6121 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 826
  2. 2Nevada1 in 1,563
  3. 3Georgia1 in 1,613
  4. 4South Carolina1 in 1,613
  5. 5Louisiana1 in 1,887
  6. 6North Carolina1 in 1,887
  7. 7Maryland1 in 2,128
  8. 8Florida1 in 2,222

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, Nalani is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 61% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Nalani around the world

Where Nalani 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
    2001–2025
    #3,035
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2007–2024
    #1,542
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1975–2011
    #514
    in 2011

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

Nalani by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#414
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 179
Best rank ever
#414
2025
Peak year
2025
754 that year
First recorded
1946
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,954
Count in 2025
754

Names similar to Nalani

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

AilaniMalaniKalaniMelaniMilaniArmaniNallelyNalaStefaniEmaniAylaniKaylaniKeilaniKailaniAmaniNaliyahNalayaShaniDelaniKehlaniAvaniTiffaniMeilaniJaylani

Names with a curve like Nalani

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

YaraLyraAriHollandKatalinaEloraRominaViennaAlayaEmoryWynterEllianna

Sibling names for Nalani

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 Nalani

Top names of 2025, Nalani's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Girls' names starting with NHawaiian Girl NamesHawaiian Names