Nalani
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Meaning
from Hawaiian lani: the heavens, or the royal chiefs
The story
Nalani can lead you to the sky, then bring you back to the ground through dance. The Hawaiian spelling Nālani is read as the heavens or the chiefs, drawing on lani, a word whose meanings hold both sky and rank. One bearer, Nālani Kanakaʻole, carried a different inheritance with her sister Pualani in Hilo: Hālau o Kekuhi, the hula school founded by their mother, Edith. Their vigorous ʻaihaʻa style bent the knees low while a seated chanter beat a large gourd and gave voice to the poetry. In the related art of mele oli, command of language, history and poetic meaning mattered alongside the voice. Chants could preserve genealogies and mark births and deaths. The name’s meaning remains open between heavens and chiefs; this bearer’s work gives it a precise place, where words became movement and one generation taught the next how to carry them.
How popular is Nalani around the world?
In the United States, 3,381 babies were named Nalani between 2020 and 2025.
Nalani is on the official records of the United States, Mexico City, Canada, Austria, England and Wales and Brazil.
United States
1 in 6,400
In the United States, 3,381 babies were named Nalani between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Nalani peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Mexico City City
1 in 24,000
In Mexico City, there were 5 registrations of Nalani in 2022.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Canada
1 in 24,000
In Canada, 15 girls named Nalani were born in 2024, ranked 1,542nd among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Austria
1 in 25,000
In Austria, 3 girls named Nalani were born in 2025, ranked 1,026th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
England and Wales
1 in 73,000
In England and Wales, 8 girls named Nalani were born in 2025, ranked 3,035th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Argentina
last on record 2013
Nalani is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 29 people in Brazil were named Nalani, ranked 96,655th, with a median age of 16.
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 2011
Nalani is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 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, Puerto Rico, 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 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 Nalani
Most people given the name Nalani 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 Nalani deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Nalani 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 Nalani fits with your family’s names and surname.
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