Iolani
Hawaiian feminine name meaning "royal hawk" or "heavenly hawk".
Name Census estimates that about 96 living Americans carry the first name Iolani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Iolani today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iolani births was 2013 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iolani. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Iolani. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
96
~ 1 in 3,570,358 Americans
Peak year
2013
11 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,169
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Iolani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iolani from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 51 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iolani 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 Iolani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Iolanis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Iolani
The name Iolani is of Hawaiian origin, derived from the words "io" meaning "hawk" and "lani" meaning "sky" or "heaven." This combination creates the meaning "heavenly hawk" or "royal hawk" in the Hawaiian language.
Iolani is a name that has been used in the Hawaiian culture for centuries, with its roots tracing back to the ancient Polynesian settlers of the Hawaiian Islands. The hawk held great significance in Hawaiian mythology, often symbolizing strength, courage, and nobility, while the sky represented the divine realm and spiritual connection.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Iolani can be found in the Hawaiian chants and oral traditions, where it was sometimes used to refer to revered chiefs or members of the royal families. The name gained further prominence during the reign of the Hawaiian monarchy in the 19th century.
Notable individuals who bore the name Iolani throughout history include Iolani Luahine (1915-1997), a renowned Hawaiian dancer, chanter, and teacher who played a pivotal role in preserving and perpetuating Hawaiian cultural traditions. Another famous Iolani was Iolani Paleioholani (1833-1902), a Hawaiian high chiefess and member of the royal family during the Kingdom of Hawaii.
In the realm of sports, Iolani Akau (born 1937) was a professional surfer from Hawaii who helped popularize the sport globally and was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in 1994. Iolani Gouveia (born 1961) is another notable figure, a Hawaiian singer and songwriter who has contributed significantly to the preservation of traditional Hawaiian music.
Iolani Luahine High School, founded in 1862 in Honolulu, Hawaii, is named after the revered cultural practitioner Iolani Luahine, further solidifying the name's connection to Hawaiian heritage and tradition.
People
Iolani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iolani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Iolani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iolani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 96 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iolani 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 3,570,358 US residents.
Is Iolani a common name?
We classify Iolani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 97 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iolani most popular?
The single biggest year for Iolani was 2013, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iolani is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Iolani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Iolani 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.
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.