Kalani

What Kalani means

Hawaiian, meaning “the + heavens; sky; king, queen”

ka (“the”) + lani (“heavens; sky; king, queen”) meaning "the heavens", "sky", "royal one", or "chief".

Source: Wiktionary, “Kalani” (revision 94540681), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Kalani?

US: Rising: up from #838 in 2015. England & Wales: New in the last 10 years.

Biggest US share so far: 2021, when 959 girls got the name (#339 that year). First in the US records in 1963.

How common

• About 1 in 2,009 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 21,107 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 DC (2.48 per 1,000 girls), MS (2.36 per 1,000 girls), LA (2.32 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Kalani is #387 in the US and #2278 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 97.4% of US babies named Kalani were girls.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Kehlani1,981 US · 39 E&W
• Kaylani1,675 US · 9 E&W
• Kailani1,215 US · 3 E&W
• Kailany511 US
• Keilani383 US · 5 E&W
• Kahlani306 US
• Keylani160 US
• Kalina135 US · 12 E&W

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 Kalani

Girls

• Elena#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #106 in 2015, #42 in 2025. 5 letters, starting with a vowel
• Amara#98“eternal”^*
• Josephine#53Feminine form of Joseph, meaning “(God) shall add”^*
• Aurora#15Italian, from Latin Aurōra, meaning “dawn, sunrise”^*
• Emilia#45Variant of Emily, meaning “rival, emulator”^*
• Nova#46“new”^*

For a brother

• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*
• Ezra#20Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #93 in 2015, #20 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters
• Tobias#283“my good is YHWH”^*
• Matias#170From Biblical Hebrew, meaning “gift of Yahweh”^*

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 Kalani’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.