Kaiulani
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Meaning
traditionally glossed 'the royal one, the highest point'; famously borne by Princess Kaʻiulani, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Hawaii
The story
Kaiulani is a Hawaiian royal name traditionally glossed as the royal one, the highest point, and it belongs to one of the most poignant figures in the islands' history. Princess Kaiulani, born in 1875 to a Hawaiian princess and a Scottish businessman, was crown princess of the Kingdom of Hawaii, raised among the peacocks of her Waikiki estate and befriended by Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote verses for her. When the monarchy was overthrown in 1893 she was seventeen and at school in England; she sailed for Washington and pleaded her nation's case with a grace that impressed even hostile newspapers. She died in 1899, only twenty-three, and Hawaii has mourned and honored her ever since. On the mainland the name is a genuine rarity, barely a recent trace in the records, a name of real beauty carrying real history.
How popular is Kaiulani around the world?
In the United States, 66 babies were named Kaiulani between 2020 and 2025.
Kaiulani is on the official records of the United States.
United States
1 in 330,000
In the United States, 66 babies were named Kaiulani between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kaiulani has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Kaiulani
Most people given the name Kaiulani in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Kaiulani deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kaiulani truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Kaiulani fits with your family’s names and surname.
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