Elani
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "bright and shining".
Name Census estimates that about 2,143 living Americans carry the first name Elani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elani today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elani births was 2024 (260 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elani. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Elani with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Elani is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 159,941 Americans
Peak year
2024
260 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#990
Tracked since 1986
Census
Elani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,046 people with the first name Elani, which placed it at #12,043 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,043
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,046 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
40.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elani is Hispanic at 40.0%. The next largest groups are Black (27.6%) and White (18.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Elani described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Elani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino40.0% · 418
- Black or African American27.6% · 289
- White18.4% · 192
- Two or more races9.2% · 96
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 6
Popularity
Elani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elani from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,022 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elani by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Elani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Elani, while South Carolina, Mississippi, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 62 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elani
The name Elani is believed to have its origins in the Hawaiian language. It is a variation of the Hawaiian name Elani, which means "bright" or "shining." The name likely emerged in the late 18th century or early 19th century, as Hawaiian names began to be more widely documented and recorded.
One of the earliest known references to the name Elani can be found in the Hawaiian language newspaper "Ka Nupepa Kuokoa," which was published in the late 19th century. The name was occasionally mentioned in articles and stories, suggesting that it was in use at that time.
While the name Elani does not appear to be directly linked to any specific historical figures or events in Hawaiian history, its meaning of "bright" or "shining" may have been inspired by the Hawaiian reverence for the sun and its importance in their cultural traditions.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Elani was Elani Kahaulelio, a Hawaiian woman born in the late 19th century. She was a prominent figure in the preservation of Hawaiian language and culture.
Another notable individual was Elani Pomaikai, a Hawaiian musician and composer who lived in the early 20th century. She was known for her contributions to the development of traditional Hawaiian music.
In the realm of literature, Elani Kanahele was a celebrated Hawaiian novelist and poet active in the mid-20th century. Her works explored themes of cultural identity and the Hawaiian experience.
Elani Kalili was a prominent Hawaiian activist and advocate for indigenous rights in the late 20th century. She played a significant role in raising awareness about issues affecting Native Hawaiian communities.
Elani Kealoha was a respected Hawaiian educator and scholar who dedicated her life to teaching and preserving the Hawaiian language and culture in the latter half of the 20th century.
While the name Elani has Hawaiian origins, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in recent decades. However, its historical roots and cultural significance can be traced back to the Hawaiian Islands and the rich heritage of the indigenous people.
People
Elani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Elani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elani going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 159,941 US residents.
Is Elani a common name?
We classify Elani as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,163 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elani most popular?
The single biggest year for Elani was 2024, when 260 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elani is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,046 people with the name Elani, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,043 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Elani in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Elani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elani leans strongly female. 1,029 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 18 male bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Elani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elani is Hispanic at 40.0%. The next largest groups are Black (27.6%) and White (18.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Elani most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Elani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.0% (418 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Elani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elani in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Elani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elani in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Elani can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Elani?
Want to know how many people have the name Elani? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.