Liani
Feminine form of Hebrew name Elijah, meaning "my God is Yahweh".
Name Census estimates that about 863 living Americans carry the first name Liani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Liani today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Liani births was 2007 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Liani. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Liani with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
863
~ 1 in 397,166 Americans
Peak year
2007
57 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,348
Tracked since 1985
Census
Liani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 670 people with the first name Liani, which placed it at #16,725 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
#16,725
National first-name rank
People counted
670
670 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
75.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Liani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liani is Hispanic at 75.5%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and White (5.8%). 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 Liani 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 Liani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino75.5% · 506
- Black or African American10.6% · 71
- White5.8% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 30
- Two or more races3.1% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Liani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Liani from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 315 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Liani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Liani 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 Liani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lianis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Liani, while New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Liani
The name Liani is a variant of the name Liana, which has its origins in various European languages. It is derived from the Latin word "liana," meaning a woody vine or climber. This name was likely initially used as a descriptive term for someone who lived near or was associated with these types of plants.
In ancient Greek mythology, there is a reference to a nymph named Liana who was said to be the protector of vines and vineyards. This connection to nature and fertility may have contributed to the name's popularity in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Liani can be found in Italian records from the 16th century. A notable figure from this era was Liani Bonaccorsi (1555-1621), an Italian painter known for her religious works and portraits.
In the 18th century, the name gained popularity in France, where it was often spelled as "Lianne." During this period, Lianne de Pouget (1718-1792) was a French noblewoman and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie Antoinette.
As the name spread across Europe, it took on various spellings and variations, including Liani. In the 19th century, Liani Kurzrock (1848-1912) was a German actress and opera singer who performed in various theaters across Europe.
In the 20th century, the name Liani became more widely used, with notable figures such as Liani Reyn (1920-2002), an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway productions and films.
Another famous bearer of the name was Liani Wyn Gruffudd (1935-2005), a Welsh actress and writer who was known for her work in both English and Welsh-language productions.
People
Liani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Liani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Liani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Liani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 863 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Liani 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 397,166 US residents.
Is Liani a common name?
We classify Liani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 872 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Liani most popular?
The single biggest year for Liani was 2007, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Liani is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Liani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 670 people with the name Liani, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,725 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 Liani 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 Liani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Liani leans strongly female. 668 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 10 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Liani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liani is Hispanic at 75.5%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and White (5.8%). 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 Liani most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Liani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.5% (506 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 Liani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Liani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Liani 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 Liani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Liani 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 Liani 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 have the name Liani?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Liani, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.