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Rare

Kamani

A Hawaiian name meaning "the child" or "the wandering one".

Name Census estimates that about 1,809 living Americans carry the first name Kamani. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Kamani today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kamani births was 2021 (108 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Kamani. 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

  • Kamani sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
  • Kamani is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.

People living today

1.8K

~ 1 in 189,472 Americans

Peak year

2021

108 babies that year

Average age

14

years old

2024 SSA rank

#2,536

Tracked since 1991

Gender

Gender distribution for Kamani

Kamani is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,827 total registrations, 708 (38.8%) were male and 1,119 (61.2%) were female.

39% male
61% female
Male708 (38.8%)Female1,119 (61.2%)

Kamani as a male name

  • Ranked #3,919 in 2024
  • 28 male births in 2024
  • Peak: 2012 (41 births)

Kamani as a female name

  • Ranked #2,536 in 2024
  • 70 female births in 2024
  • Peak: 2022 (72 births)

Popularity

Kamani: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Kamani from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 690 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kamani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.

Babies born per year

MaleFemale
0275481108199520002005201020152020

Decades

Kamani 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 Kamani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
1990s10026126
2000s215307522
2010s250440690
2020s143346489

Geography

Where Kamanis live

The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. North Carolina, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Kamani, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.

Origin

Meaning and history of Kamani

The name Kamani has its origins in the Hawaiian language and culture. It is derived from the Hawaiian words "ka" meaning "the" and "mani" meaning "fern". The name is believed to have emerged in the 18th century or earlier, as the Hawaiian language and culture predate European contact with the islands.

Kamani was likely used as a name for children born near or in areas with an abundance of fern plants. The fern held significant symbolic meaning in Hawaiian culture, representing new life, growth, and fertility. As such, the name Kamani would have been seen as an auspicious choice for a newborn child.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kamani comes from the Hawaiian genealogical chants and oral traditions passed down through generations. These chants often included the names of notable individuals and their lineages.

In more modern times, one of the earliest known individuals with the name Kamani was Kamani Kualāau, a Hawaiian chief and warrior who lived in the late 18th century. He played a significant role in the battles between the islands of Oahu and Maui during that period.

Another notable figure was Kamani Kanoa, a Hawaiian musician and composer who lived from 1860 to 1940. He was renowned for his contributions to traditional Hawaiian music and helped preserve many ancient chants and songs.

In the realm of sports, Kamani Inu played professional football for the San Diego Chargers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was a defensive lineman and was born in 1953.

Kamani Wili, born in 1920 and passed away in 2005, was a respected Hawaiian elder and cultural practitioner who worked tirelessly to preserve and promote the traditional arts and practices of her people.

Lastly, Kamani Kealoha was a Hawaiian activist and environmentalist who lived from 1935 to 2010. She was instrumental in protecting and preserving many sacred sites and natural resources throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

People

Kamani + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Kamani 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

Kamani: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Kamani?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,809 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kamani 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 189,472 US residents.

Is Kamani a common name?

We classify Kamani as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,827 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Kamani most popular?

The single biggest year for Kamani was 2021, when 108 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kamani is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

Is Kamani a female name?

Yes, 61.2% of people registered as Kamani 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.

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