girl's name
Liana
lee-AH-nuh
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 29,334
the United States
#386
2025 births
Liana is a girl's name with two sources. It is a short form of Juliana, Eliana and similar names, and independently the botanical word for a woody climbing vine — from the French lier, to bind, which is also the root of liaison.
- Liana is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 801 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,139 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1929.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Liana over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1920s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1920s | 6 |
| 1930s | 5 |
| 1940s | 155 |
| 1950s | 367 |
| 1960s | 637 |
| 1970s | 1,130 |
| 1980s | 1,737 |
| 1990s | 2,491 |
| 2000s | 3,802 |
| 2010s | 6,005 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,331 |
What Liana means
Liana means a climbing vine, through the French, or takes its meaning from whichever longer name it shortens. As a plant word the sense is of something that binds and climbs by holding on.
Where Liana comes from
Liana has a botanical line and a nominal one. The plant word comes from the French liane, from lier, to bind, from the Latin ligare — the same root as ligament and liaison — and names the woody vines that climb rainforest trees toward light. Separately, Liana serves as a short form for Juliana, Eliana, Emiliana and Rosaliana across Italian, Spanish and Romanian use, in which case it carries their meanings rather than its own. Both are current, and the name's spread through five of our six markets suggests it travels as a sound as much as a meaning.
Liana in use
Liana charts in all seven countries we track and reached its highest recorded use in 2025.
How popular is Liana?
In 2025, Liana was given to 801 babies in the United States, ranking #386 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Liana 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.
How Liana is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Lïana | Lïana is Liana written with a diaeresis, used in France, where it ranks #1,295. | 200 |
Names that peaked alongside Liana
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Liana also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Liana over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Liana
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.
Liana 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 Liana
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Liana — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Liana
What does the name Liana mean?
A climbing vine, from the French lier, to bind. It also serves as a short form of Juliana and Eliana.
Is Liana short for something?
It can be — Juliana, Eliana, Emiliana and Rosaliana all shorten to it — but it also stands alone as the plant word.
How do you pronounce Liana?
lee-AH-nuh, with the stress on the middle syllable.
How popular is the name Liana?
In 2025, Liana was given to 801 babies in the United States, ranking #386 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Liana a girl's or a boy's name?
Liana is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Liana?
Liana has 3 syllables.
When was Liana most popular?
Liana peaked in 2025, when 801 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Liana?
Liana is usually shortened to Li and Ana.
Is Liana a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Liana currently ranks #169 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.