Kailani
A Hawaiian name meaning "sea and sky" or "heavenly sea".
Name Census estimates that about 11,508 living Americans carry the first name Kailani. It sits at #275 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kailani today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kailani births was 2022 (1,357 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kailani. 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
- • Kailani is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 29,784 Americans
Peak year
2022
1,357 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2023 SSA rank
#275
Tracked since 1980
Gender
Gender distribution for Kailani
Out of the 11,598 babies given the name Kailani since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kailani as a male name
- Ranked #9,330 in 2023
- 8 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2022 (8 births)
Kailani as a female name
- Ranked #275 in 2024
- 1,141 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (1,349 births)
Popularity
Kailani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kailani 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 6,101 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
Kailani 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 Kailani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kailanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kailani, while South Dakota, Rhode Island, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 242 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kailani
The name Kailani has its origins in the Hawaiian language and culture. It is a combination of two Hawaiian words, "kai" meaning ocean or sea, and "lani" meaning heaven or sky. Thus, Kailani can be interpreted as "heavenly sea" or "sea from heaven".
In Hawaiian culture, the ocean and the sky hold great significance, representing the essential elements of life and the natural world. The name Kailani reflects the reverence and connection that Hawaiians have with these natural forces.
While the name Kailani may have been in use informally for centuries, its earliest documented appearances date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Kailani Parker, a Hawaiian woman born in 1889 on the island of Oahu.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kailani. One such person was Kailani Kamau, a Hawaiian activist and educator who played a crucial role in preserving and promoting the Hawaiian language and culture in the mid-20th century. She was born in 1920 and dedicated her life to ensuring the survival of Hawaiian traditions.
Another prominent figure with this name was Kailani Kauakahi, a renowned Hawaiian musician and composer who lived from 1932 to 2004. Her compositions, which blended traditional Hawaiian music with contemporary influences, have left a lasting impact on the island's musical landscape.
In the realm of literature, Kailani Koa was a celebrated Hawaiian author and poet who wrote extensively about the challenges faced by indigenous communities in the 20th century. Her poignant works, published between the 1950s and 1980s, shed light on the struggles of preserving cultural identity amidst rapid modernization.
Kailani Kanahele, born in 1968, is a contemporary Hawaiian activist and community leader who has been at the forefront of efforts to protect and reclaim ancestral lands and promote environmental conservation in Hawaii.
While the name Kailani has its roots in Hawaiian culture, it has gained popularity globally, particularly in recent decades, as a beautiful and meaningful name that evokes a connection to the natural world.
People
Kailani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kailani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kailani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kailani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,508 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kailani 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 29,784 US residents.
Is Kailani a common name?
We classify Kailani as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,598 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kailani most popular?
The single biggest year for Kailani was 2022, when 1,357 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kailani is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kailani a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Kailani 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.