Head to head · Girls' names
Iris vs Leilani
#61 vs #60 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Leilani is a whisker ahead (#60 vs #61 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Iris and Leilani each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Iris #649, Leilani — — Iris higher
- 1890s: Iris #477, Leilani — — Iris higher
- 1900s: Iris #360, Leilani — — Iris higher
- 1910s: Iris #270, Leilani #4423 — Iris higher
- 1920s: Iris #221, Leilani #3736 — Iris higher
- 1930s: Iris #214, Leilani #2295 — Iris higher
- 1940s: Iris #249, Leilani #892 — Iris higher
- 1950s: Iris #287, Leilani #1198 — Iris higher
- 1960s: Iris #397, Leilani #1068 — Iris higher
- 1970s: Iris #434, Leilani #984 — Iris higher
- 1980s: Iris #457, Leilani #960 — Iris higher
- 1990s: Iris #461, Leilani #949 — Iris higher
- 2000s: Iris #366, Leilani #359 — Leilani higher
- 2010s: Iris #221, Leilani #188 — Leilani higher
- 2020s: Iris #88, Leilani #68 — Leilani higher
Iris stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Leilani has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Iris | Leilani |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #649 | — |
| 1890s | #477 | — |
| 1900s | #360 | — |
| 1910s | #270 | #4423 |
| 1920s | #221 | #3736 |
| 1930s | #214 | #2295 |
| 1940s | #249 | #892 |
| 1950s | #287 | #1198 |
| 1960s | #397 | #1068 |
| 1970s | #434 | #984 |
| 1980s | #457 | #960 |
| 1990s | #461 | #949 |
| 2000s | #366 | #359 |
| 2010s | #221 | #188 |
| 2020s | #88 | #68 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Iris
- France#11
- England & Wales#61
Leilani
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Iris
Rainbow
From the Greek word iris, 'rainbow'. The flower and the iris of the eye were both named from the same word, for their color.
Ἶρις (Greek) → Iris (Latin) → Iris (English)
How it traveled
Iris is Greek, both a common noun for the rainbow and the name of the goddess who carried messages along it in early Greek poetry. Latin took the word unchanged, and botanists later applied it to the flower, while Greek medical writers used it for the colored part of the eye.
Leilani
Heavenly flowers, or royal child
Both readings come from the same two words. Lei is a garland or wreath of flowers, and by affection a beloved child; lani means sky or heaven, and also royal or chiefly. So the name is read as 'heavenly lei' and as 'royal child' depending on which sense of each word is carried forward. Hawaiian speakers use both, and neither is a correction of the other.
How it traveled
The name belongs to the Hawaiian language, where lani appears in a great many names and titles and lei in as many more, so Leilani sits inside a large and living naming tradition rather than standing alone. It reached the continental United States in the early twentieth century, in the decades when Hawaiian music, hula troupes and the steel guitar were touring mainland theaters and Hawaii itself was a US territory; statehood followed in 1959.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Iris
EYE-ris
Two syllables, stress on the first. French speakers say it closer to ee-REESS, with the stress at the end — worth knowing if the name will be used on both sides of the Atlantic.
- Iri — Informal, used within families; not a standalone given name in English.
- Ri — Informal and occasional; most bearers are called by the full name at every age.
Leilani
lay-LAH-nee
Stress falls on the second syllable. The Hawaiian 'ei' is the vowel of 'day', not 'ee', so the first syllable is 'lay' rather than 'lee' — the most frequent slip is LEE-lah-nee. Every vowel is pronounced; nothing is swallowed.
- Lani — The most common short form, and a full given name in Hawaiian in its own right.
- Lei — Informal, used within families; also stands alone as a Hawaiian name.
- Leila — Occasionally used as a short form in English-speaking families, though Leila is separately an established name of Arabic and Persian origin.
Who has carried each name
Iris
Iris Murdoch (b. 1919) — Booker Prize-winning novelist and philosopher
Iris Apfel (b. 1921) — Fashion icon still starring in campaigns past age 100
Leilani
No documented entry for Leilani yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Iris if you want…
- a name on the way upup 66 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesIris is 2 syllables to Leilani's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooIris is on the national lists of France and England & Wales
- a long American recordIris was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Leilani if you want…
- a name with more sound in itLeilani runs 3 syllables, Iris 2
- a newer arrivalLeilani entered the US charts in 1917
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Iris
Strengths
- Four letters, spelled the way it sounds; almost no one needs it repeated or corrected.
- The same spelling works in French, Spanish, Dutch and German, with only the stress shifting.
- An ordinary English word as well as a name — people already know the flower and the part of the eye.
To consider
- It offers almost no short forms. A child who wants a nickname will have to improvise one, and most bearers simply go by Iris.
- Said quickly, it can be misheard as 'Irish', and it runs together with surnames that begin with S — try the full name aloud before deciding.
- It is climbing steadily rather than sitting still, so it may feel less uncommon by the time your child reaches school than it does now.
Leilani
Strengths
- The meaning is transparent to Hawaiian speakers rather than reconstructed from guesswork — lei and lani are both everyday words.
- Spelled the way it sounds once the 'ei' is known, with no silent letters and no competing standard spelling.
- Two established short forms, Lani and Lei, both of which also work as names on their own.
To consider
- The 'ei' trips people. Expect LEE-lah-nee from strangers and a lifetime of gently correcting it, plus Leilany, Leylani and Lelani turning up in spelling.
- It is a Hawaiian name with real cultural weight behind it, and some Native Hawaiian families feel strongly about its use off the islands. Worth knowing you're carrying that, whatever you decide.
- The name is on the way up, not the way down, so a child born now will likely meet more Leilanis in later school years than the current picture suggests.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Iris and Leilani in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Iris and Leilani?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Iris and Leilani — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Iris or Leilani — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Iris or Leilani?
- Leilani, in 2025: Leilani ranked #60 with 3,792 babies; Iris ranked #61 with 3,729 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Iris or Leilani?
- Iris. Over the last five years Iris moved up 66 places; Leilani moved up 32 places.
- Which is the older name, Iris or Leilani?
- Iris was already in use when US records began in 1880; Leilani entered the US charts in 1917. On the American record, Iris is the older name.
- How many people are named Iris and Leilani?
- About 76,000 people named Iris are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 55,000 people named Leilani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Iriss or Leilanis in the classroom?
- Iris will almost certainly be the only one in school. Leilani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Iris, Leilani and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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