Kealani
A Hawaiian name meaning "bright path" or "bright heavens".
Name Census estimates that about 524 living Americans carry the first name Kealani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kealani today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kealani births was 2000 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kealani. 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
524
~ 1 in 654,111 Americans
Peak year
2000
29 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,754
Tracked since 1977
Census
Kealani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 465 people with the first name Kealani, which placed it at #21,716 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
#21,716
National first-name rank
People counted
465
465 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Two or more races
31.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kealani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kealani is Two or More Races at 31.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.1%). 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 Kealani 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 Kealani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Two or more races31.4% · 146
- Hispanic or Latino28.8% · 134
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.1% · 89
- White13.8% · 64
- Black or African American6.9% · 32
Popularity
Kealani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kealani from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 196 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kealani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kealani 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 Kealani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kealanis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kealani
Kealani is a Hawaiian given name that has its roots in the Polynesian languages spoken in the Hawaiian Islands. The name can be traced back to the early settlers of the islands, who brought with them the rich cultural heritage and linguistic traditions of their ancestral homelands.
The name Kealani is derived from the Hawaiian words 'ke' meaning 'the' and 'alani' meaning 'bright' or 'orange.' Thus, the name Kealani can be interpreted as 'the bright one' or 'the orange one.' This name may have been bestowed upon children born during the vibrant Hawaiian sunrises or sunsets, or perhaps to those with a radiant and cheerful disposition.
While there are no known references to the name Kealani in ancient Hawaiian texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been in use among the Hawaiian people for centuries, possibly even before the arrival of Western explorers and missionaries in the late 18th century.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kealani can be found in the historical records of the Hawaiian Kingdom, where a woman named Kealani Keaweamahi lived in the early 19th century. She was a high-ranking chiefess and a member of the Hawaiian royal family.
Another notable figure in Hawaiian history was Kealani Kalaninui, who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was a respected kahuna (priest) and a skilled navigator, known for his expertise in traditional Hawaiian wayfinding and celestial navigation.
In the realm of Hawaiian music, the name Kealani is associated with the singer and songwriter Kealani Reichel, born in 1954. She has played a significant role in preserving and promoting traditional Hawaiian music and culture through her performances and recordings.
Kealani Kahaunaele, born in 1964, is a renowned practitioner of the traditional Hawaiian art of lauhala weaving. She has dedicated her life to preserving and teaching this ancient craft, ensuring its continuation for future generations.
In the field of education, Kealani Cook, born in 1968, has made significant contributions as a teacher and advocate for Hawaiian language and culture. She has worked tirelessly to promote the revitalization and preservation of the Hawaiian language and traditional practices.
These are just a few examples of the individuals who have carried the name Kealani throughout history, each leaving their mark on the rich cultural tapestry of the Hawaiian Islands and its people.
People
Kealani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kealani 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
Kealani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kealani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 524 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kealani 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 654,111 US residents.
Is Kealani a common name?
We classify Kealani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 532 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kealani most popular?
The single biggest year for Kealani was 2000, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kealani is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kealani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 465 people with the name Kealani, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,716 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 Kealani 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 Kealani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kealani leans strongly female. 459 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 10 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Kealani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kealani is Two or More Races at 31.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.1%). 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 Kealani most often in the Census?
Two or More Races is the largest reported group for people named Kealani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 31.4% (146 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 Kealani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kealani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kealani 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 Kealani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kealani 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 Kealani 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 are called Kealani?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Kealani on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.