girl's name
Kaylani
ky-LAH-nee
- Origin Hawaiian
- Gender Girl
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 11,980
the United States
#185
2025 births
Kaylani is a girl's name of Hawaiian origin, generally read as "the heavens" or "heavenly one." It combines ka, the definite article, with lani, sky or heaven — though it is a modern coinage rather than a traditional Hawaiian name.
- Kaylani is a name of Hawaiian origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 1,675 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,979 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1987.
Kaylani over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1980s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1980s | 26 |
| 1990s | 126 |
| 2000s | 866 |
| 2010s | 3,369 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,490 |
What Kaylani means
Kaylani means the heavens, or heavenly. The lani element genuinely means sky, heaven and by extension royalty in Hawaiian, since chiefs were described as heavenly.
Where Kaylani comes from
Kaylani is built from Hawaiian elements — ka, the, and lani, sky or heaven — but is a modern American formation rather than an attested traditional name. Lani carries a specific weight in Hawaiian: it means both sky and royal, because chiefs were addressed as heavenly, which is why it appears in so many names. Kaylani belongs to the -lani cluster with Kehlani, Leilani, Alani and Aylani, several of which our `names:disputed` work identified as recent coinages whose reference-work meanings were reconstructed after the fact.
Kaylani in use
Our data shows Kaylani peaking in 2025 and still rising, and it first appears in our records in 1987. It sits in the same family as Kehlani, whose curve our data dates precisely to the singer's rise — 50 births in 2015 to 1,311 in 2019. The -lani group as a whole is one of the clearest sound-driven clusters in our records.
How popular is Kaylani?
In 2025, Kaylani was given to 1,675 babies in the United States, ranking #185 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Kaylani 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 Kaylani
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kaylani also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kaylani over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Kaylani
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.
Kaylani 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 Kaylani
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kaylani — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kaylani
What does the name Kaylani mean?
Kaylani means "the heavens," from the Hawaiian ka, the, and lani, sky or heaven.
Is Kaylani a traditional Hawaiian name?
It uses Hawaiian elements but is a modern American formation rather than an attested traditional name.
Why do so many names end in -lani?
Lani means sky and, by extension, royal — Hawaiian chiefs were addressed as heavenly, so it appears across many names.
How popular is the name Kaylani?
In 2025, Kaylani was given to 1,675 babies in the United States, ranking #185 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Kaylani a girl's or a boy's name?
Kaylani is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Kaylani most popular?
Kaylani peaked in 2025, when 1,675 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Kaylani?
Kaylani is usually shortened to Kay and Lani.
Is Kaylani a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kaylani currently ranks #185 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.