Malani
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Meaning
traditionally interpreted as 'peaceful heaven', from Hawaiian malu/malie (calm) and lani (sky)
The story
Malani is Hawaiian, traditionally read as peaceful heaven, from malu and malie, the calm, and lani, the sky, and it joins the -lani family that Leilani anchors at about 56,500, the register of island skies our records keep filling. Malani is among its newest members and one of its quickest: about 290 in the 2000s, 2,000 in the 2010s, and already 4,800 so far this decade, close to two and a half times the full 2010s with years to run, the same current that carries Ailani. It goes to girls almost without exception: about 7,100 to five. The family's grammar is consistent: the front half describes, the lani lifts. Leilani's flowers, Ailani's chief, and now Malani's calm: the sky over the islands keeps room for all of them.
How popular is Malani around the world?
In the United States, 4,798 babies were named Malani between 2020 and 2025.
Malani is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales and Brazil.
United States
1 in 4,500
In the United States, 4,798 babies were named Malani between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Malani peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 150,000
In England and Wales, 4 girls named Malani were born in 2025, ranked 4,867th among girls that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 45 people in Brazil were named Malani, ranked 71,575th, with a median age of 28.
Among people named Malani living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
South Australia
last on record 2009
Malani is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, 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 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 Malani
Most people given the name Malani in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Malani deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Malani 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 Malani fits with your family’s names and surname.
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