girl's name
Ailani
eye-LAH-nee
- Origin Hawaiian
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 7,954
the United States
#168
2025 births
Ailani is a girl's name generally presented as Hawaiian, meaning "high chief" or "chief of the heavens," from ali'i, chief, and lani, sky or heaven. Reference sources agree on that reading more than they do for its variants, though the name's status within Hawaiian tradition is less clear.
- Ailani is a name of Hawaiian origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 1,807 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,835 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1996.
Ailani over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1990s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 33 |
| 2000s | 745 |
| 2010s | 2,040 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,087 |
What Ailani means
Ailani is read as high chief or royal chief, combining Hawaiian elements for chief and for sky or heaven. Both elements are genuine Hawaiian words with clear meanings, which is why this name attracts less disagreement than the coinages built to resemble it.
Where Ailani comes from
Ailani draws on two well-attested Hawaiian words: ali'i, meaning chief or member of the ruling class, and lani, meaning sky, heaven, or by extension royalty — a pairing that appears in genuine Hawaiian names and titles, where heavenly and royal overlap. Whether Ailani in this exact form is a traditional Hawaiian name or a modern American formation from Hawaiian elements is not clearly established, and United States birth records show it appearing only in 1996. It has since generated a family of respellings — Ailany, Aylani, Alani, Ailyn — whose meanings sources dispute far more sharply than they do Ailani's own.
Ailani in use
In Hawaiian, lani links sky and royalty in a single word, which is why so many names built from it are glossed as both heavenly and royal.
How popular is Ailani?
In 2025, Ailani was given to 1,807 babies in the United States, ranking #168 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Ailani is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Ailani
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ailani also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ailani over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Ailani
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Ailani in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Ailani
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ailani — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ailani
What does the name Ailani mean?
Ailani is generally read as "high chief," from the Hawaiian ali'i, chief, and lani, sky or heaven.
Is Ailani a traditional Hawaiian name?
It uses genuine Hawaiian elements, though whether this exact form is traditional or a modern formation is not clearly established.
What is the difference between Ailani and Ailany?
Ailany is a respelling. Sources agree far less about its meaning than about Ailani's.
How popular is the name Ailani?
In 2025, Ailani was given to 1,807 babies in the United States, ranking #168 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Ailani a girl's or a boy's name?
Ailani is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Ailani most popular?
Ailani peaked in 2025, when 1,807 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Ailani?
Ailani is usually shortened to Lani.
Is Ailani a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ailani currently ranks #168 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.