Kailani

What Kailani means

Means “sea + sky”

From Hawaiian Kailani, from kai (“sea”) + lani (“sky”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Kailani” (revision 91559309), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Kailani?

US: Rising: up from #877 in 2015. England & Wales: New in the last 10 years.

Biggest US share so far: 2022, when 1,350 girls got the name (#222 that year). First in the US records in 1980.

How common

• About 1 in 1,323 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 84,427 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in HI (11.19 per 1,000 girls), DE (3.55 per 1,000 girls), RI (2.85 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Kailani is #253 in the US and #5927 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Kailani were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Kehlani1,981 US · 39 E&W
• Kaylani1,675 US · 9 E&W
• Kalani800 US · 12 E&W
• Kailany511 US
• Keilani383 US · 5 E&W
• Kahlani306 US
• Keilany191 US
• Keylani160 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Kailani

Girls

• Josephine#53Feminine form of Joseph, meaning “(God) shall add”^*
• Leilani#60Hawaiian, meaning “a lei; a child + heavenly, royal”^*
• Luna#27“the moon”^*
• Amira#132“princess”^*
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Amara#98“eternal”^*

For a brother

• Luka#85Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #85 vs #261 in 2025
• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*
• Luca#14Form of Lucy, meaning “light”^*
• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Enzo#72“home + ruler”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Kailani’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.