Kaiulani
A Hawaiian feminine name meaning "heavenly lei" or "royal garland".
Name Census estimates that about 434 living Americans carry the first name Kaiulani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaiulani today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaiulani births was 2011 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaiulani. 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.
People living today
434
~ 1 in 789,757 Americans
Peak year
2011
22 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,563
Tracked since 1977
Popularity
Kaiulani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaiulani from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 149 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kaiulani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaiulani 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 Kaiulani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaiulanis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaiulani
Kaiulani is a Hawaiian name with a rich history and cultural significance. It originated from the Hawaiian language, which is part of the Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.
The name Kaiulani is a combination of two Hawaiian words: "kai," meaning sea or ocean, and "ulani," meaning highest or heavenly. Together, the name Kaiulani can be interpreted as "highest or heavenly sea" or "sea of the highest rank."
The origins of the name can be traced back to the Hawaiian monarchy and aristocracy. It was a name given to members of the Hawaiian royal family and nobility, reflecting their high status and connection to the ocean, which played a crucial role in Hawaiian culture and mythology.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kaiulani is Princess Kaiulani (1875-1899), who was the daughter of Princess Miriam Likelike and Archibald Scott Cleghorn. Princess Kaiulani was heir to the Hawaiian throne and became a prominent figure in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement against the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Another notable figure with the name Kaiulani was Kaiulani Kanoa-Martin (1956-2010), a Hawaiian singer-songwriter and actress. She was known for her contributions to the Hawaiian Renaissance and her efforts in preserving and promoting Hawaiian culture through her music and performances.
In ancient Hawaiian texts and chants, the name Kaiulani is associated with the sea and its power, beauty, and importance in Hawaiian life. It is often used to describe the ocean's majesty and its connection to the Hawaiian people.
The name Kaiulani has also been used by notable Hawaiian authors and poets, such as Kaiulani Kauakahi (1902-1976), a Hawaiian writer and educator who wrote about Hawaiian culture and traditions.
Other historical figures who bore the name Kaiulani include Kaiulani Mokuahi (1887-1958), a Hawaiian educator and activist, and Kaiulani Cooke (1882-1922), a member of the prominent Cooke family in Hawaii.
Overall, the name Kaiulani has a rich cultural and historical significance in Hawaiian culture, representing the connection between the Hawaiian people and the ocean, as well as the high status and nobility associated with the name.
People
Kaiulani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaiulani 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
Kaiulani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaiulani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 434 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaiulani 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 789,757 US residents.
Is Kaiulani a common name?
We classify Kaiulani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 443 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaiulani most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaiulani was 2011, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaiulani is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kaiulani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaiulani 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.