Head to head · Girls' names
Kaylani vs Lila
#185 vs #186 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Kaylani is a whisker ahead (#185 vs #186 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: Kaylani and Lila 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: Kaylani —, Lila #234 — Lila higher
- 1890s: Kaylani —, Lila #206 — Lila higher
- 1900s: Kaylani —, Lila #205 — Lila higher
- 1910s: Kaylani —, Lila #228 — Lila higher
- 1920s: Kaylani —, Lila #198 — Lila higher
- 1930s: Kaylani —, Lila #225 — Lila higher
- 1940s: Kaylani —, Lila #346 — Lila higher
- 1950s: Kaylani —, Lila #477 — Lila higher
- 1960s: Kaylani —, Lila #764 — Lila higher
- 1970s: Kaylani —, Lila #1027 — Lila higher
- 1980s: Kaylani #8157, Lila #1154 — Lila higher
- 1990s: Kaylani #7740, Lila #1221 — Lila higher
- 2000s: Kaylani #2430, Lila #445 — Lila higher
- 2010s: Kaylani #998, Lila #195 — Lila higher
- 2020s: Kaylani #257, Lila #213 — Lila higher
Lila stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Kaylani | Lila |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #234 |
| 1890s | — | #206 |
| 1900s | — | #205 |
| 1910s | — | #228 |
| 1920s | — | #198 |
| 1930s | — | #225 |
| 1940s | — | #346 |
| 1950s | — | #477 |
| 1960s | — | #764 |
| 1970s | — | #1027 |
| 1980s | #8157 | #1154 |
| 1990s | #7740 | #1221 |
| 2000s | #2430 | #445 |
| 2010s | #998 | #195 |
| 2020s | #257 | #213 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Kaylani
Not charting outside the US.
Lila
- France#90
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Kaylani
Usually read through Hawaiian lani, 'sky, heaven'
Two readings compete, and both are reasonable. One treats Kaylani as an English respelling of Hawaiian Kailani, from kai 'sea' and lani 'sky, heaven' — hence the popular gloss 'sea and sky'. The other treats it as an American coinage: the Kay- of Kayla and Kaylee joined to the familiar -lani ending, in which case only the second half carries a documented meaning. The lani element is solid either way; the first syllable is where the disagreement sits.
Kailani → Kaylani
How it traveled
Lani is a real and well-attested Hawaiian word for sky or heaven, and it closes a long list of Hawaiian names — Leilani, Kailani, Kalani, Noelani among them. Kaylani belongs to a wave of American names formed on that ending, and it is genuinely hard to say whether any given family reached it by respelling Kailani or by extending Kayla.
Lila
"night" (Arabic), "play, divine play" (Sanskrit), or a short form of Lillian or Delilah
Three serious readings meet at this spelling. As a Western form of Arabic Layla it carries the sense "night." In Sanskrit, līlā means "play" or "sport," a term used in Hindu theology for the play of the divine, and Lila is a documented Indian given name from it. And in nineteenth-century English-speaking use, Lila served plainly as a short form of Lillian, Delilah and sometimes Elizabeth. Which road a particular Lila came down usually depends on the family.
Layla → Leila → Lila
How it traveled
The oldest and best-documented road runs through Arabic: Layla, the beloved of the poet Qays in the tale of Layla and Majnun, given its most famous shape by the twelfth-century Persian poet Nizami and retold across Persian, Turkish and Urdu literature ever since. English-language readers met the name through Romantic-era poetry — Byron used Leila in The Giaour in 1813 — and the vowel loosened into Leila, Laila and Lila as it moved between alphabets.
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
Kaylani
kay-LAH-nee
Three syllables, stress on the middle one. A minority say ky-LAH-nee, closer to the Hawaiian Kailani; expect to state your preference once and then be understood.
- Kay — The obvious short form, and a standalone given name in its own right for well over a century.
- Lani — Takes the back half instead of the front; also used on its own as a given name.
- Kayla — Informal, and already a full name elsewhere, which some families like and others avoid for exactly that reason.
- Kiki — A playful household form rather than anything anyone would write on a form.
Lila
LYE-luh
Both LYE-luh and LEE-luh are in genuine use in the US, the second reflecting the Arabic and Sanskrit sources more closely. Neither is wrong, but the two do not sort themselves out on their own — most families end up saying which they mean, more than once.
- Lil — The most common informal clip; also used for Lillian and Lily, so it rarely points back to one name.
- Lilly — Informal extension rather than a true shortening; stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Lils — Casual, mostly among friends and siblings; a modern-sounding form.
- Lolly — Family-only affectionate form, more common in older generations.
- Also Li.
Who has carried each name
Kaylani
No documented entry for Kaylani yet.
Lila
Lila Downs (b. 1968) — Grammy-winning Mexican-American singer
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 Kaylani if you want…
- a name on the way upup 155 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itKaylani runs 3 syllables, Lila 2
- a newer arrivalKaylani entered the US charts in 1987
Choose Lila if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesLila is 2 syllables to Kaylani's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooLila is on the national lists of France
- a long American recordLila was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Kaylani
Strengths
- Three ready-made short forms — Kay, Lani, Kayla — each of which already stands alone as a name, so it shortens without sounding improvised.
- Reads phonetically for English speakers: nothing silent, nothing surprising, no letter doing an unusual job.
- The -lani ending is already familiar through Leilani, Kailani and Kalani, so the shape lands as recognizable even where the name itself is new.
To consider
- It sits inside a crowded spelling cluster — Kailani, Kalani, Kaylanie, Kaelani — so it will be spelled aloud fairly often, and mail will arrive addressed to the wrong version.
- Lani is a Hawaiian word, and some Hawaiian speakers feel strongly about -lani names used outside the culture. Worth knowing if the connection matters to you, either as heritage or as borrowing.
- Because the name is genuinely recent, nearly everyone carrying it is a child. There is no adult Kaylani in most people's memory to anchor it, which cuts both ways — no baggage, but also no precedent.
Lila
Strengths
- Two syllables, four letters, and no silent letters — easy to write early and easy to read aloud once the vowel is agreed on.
- An unbroken presence in American records from the beginning of such records to now, so it reads as neither invented nor dated.
- Works across languages: recognizable in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, French and Indian naming traditions without needing a new spelling.
To consider
- The pronunciation genuinely splits — LYE-luh and LEE-luh are both current — so expect to correct people occasionally, and expect a few to keep getting it wrong.
- Lila, Lyla, Layla, Leila and Laila are all in circulation and all sound close. Spelling it out over the phone will become routine, and mail will sometimes arrive under the wrong version.
- The sound is currently well represented across that whole family of spellings, so a Lila may meet a Layla or a Lyla even while remaining the only Lila.
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 Kaylani and Lila in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- Seven-letter names, ranked by real use
- The names with the most spellings
- Names ending in -i
- all guides
Where Kaylani and Lila each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Kaylani or Lila — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Kaylani or Lila?
- Kaylani, in 2025: Kaylani ranked #185 with 1,675 babies; Lila ranked #186 with 1,670 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Kaylani or Lila?
- Kaylani. Over the last five years Kaylani moved up 155 places; Lila moved up 42 places.
- Which is the older name, Kaylani or Lila?
- Kaylani entered the US charts in 1987; Lila was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Lila is the older name.
- How many people are named Kaylani and Lila?
- About 12,000 people named Kaylani are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 47,500 people named Lila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Kaylanis or Lilas in the classroom?
- Kaylani will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lila 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
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