girl's name
Kehlani
keh-LAH-nee
- Origin Modern coinage
- Gender Girl
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 15,152
the United States
#149
2025 births
Kehlani is a girl's name of disputed meaning. Sources give "sea and sky," "sea heavens," "black," and "mythical" — four incompatible answers. Its rise in the United States is precisely datable and follows the career of the singer Kehlani, who released her breakout work in 2014.
- Kehlani is a name of Modern coinage origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 1,986 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,669 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 2015.
Kehlani over time
Births per decade in the United States, 2010s 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 |
|---|---|
| 2010s | 3,213 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 11,319 |
What Kehlani means
Kehlani has no agreed meaning. The readings in circulation include sea and sky, sea heavens, black, and heavenly, and none is supported by documentary evidence. Several sources present it as Hawaiian, though the name does not appear in standard Hawaiian references.
Where Kehlani comes from
Kehlani is a recent coinage and the disagreement between sources is unusually stark. One group of reference sites gives "sea and sky" or "sea heavens," apparently by reading the name as containing the Hawaiian kai, sea, and lani, sky or heaven. Others offer "black," and others again "mythical" or "heavenly." These readings cannot all be right, and the Hawaiian analysis is complicated by the fact that Kehlani is not a documented Hawaiian name — it resembles one. The United States birth records date its arrival precisely: 50 babies in 2015, rising to 1,311 by 2019 and to the top 150 by 2025. The singer Kehlani Parrish released her breakout mixtape in 2014, and the timing is difficult to read as coincidence.
Kehlani in use
Kehlani belongs to a large family of modern names built from the Hawaiian element lani, meaning sky or heaven, most of which are American coinages rather than Hawaiian names.
How popular is Kehlani?
In 2025, Kehlani was given to 1,986 babies in the United States, ranking #149 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Kehlani 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 Kehlani
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kehlani also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kehlani over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Kehlani
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.
Kehlani 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 Kehlani
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kehlani — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kehlani
What does the name Kehlani mean?
There is no agreed meaning. Sources variously give "sea and sky," "sea heavens," "black," and "mythical."
Is Kehlani a Hawaiian name?
It is often presented as Hawaiian and contains what looks like the element lani, sky, but it is not a documented Hawaiian name.
Why do sources disagree about Kehlani?
Because it is a recent coinage with no historical record, so reference sites reason backwards from the elements it appears to contain and reach different conclusions.
How popular is the name Kehlani?
In 2025, Kehlani was given to 1,986 babies in the United States, ranking #149 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Kehlani a girl's or a boy's name?
Kehlani is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Kehlani most popular?
Kehlani peaked in 2025, when 1,986 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Kehlani?
Kehlani is usually shortened to Lani.
Is Kehlani a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kehlani currently ranks #149 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.