Head to head · Girls' names
Makenna vs Meilani
#593 vs #590 in 2025
Meilani is a whisker ahead (#590 vs #593 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Meilani is climbing the charts fast, Makenna is stepping back from its peak.
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
On the charts, Meilani leads 3 measures of 6; Makenna leads 2.
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
- 1980s: Makenna #5232, Meilani #7757 — Makenna higher
- 1990s: Makenna #1076, Meilani #8482 — Makenna higher
- 2000s: Makenna #240, Meilani #5807 — Makenna higher
- 2010s: Makenna #282, Meilani #3066 — Makenna higher
- 2020s: Makenna #459, Meilani #863 — Makenna higher
Makenna stood higher in every recorded decade — 5 of 5.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Makenna | Meilani |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | #5232 | #7757 |
| 1990s | #1076 | #8482 |
| 2000s | #240 | #5807 |
| 2010s | #282 | #3066 |
| 2020s | #459 | #863 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Makenna
"son of Cionaodh," from the Irish surname Mac Cionaoith
The surname layer is clear enough: Mac Cionaoith means "son of Cionaodh." What Cionaodh itself means is where scholars part ways — one reading takes it as cion, "love" or "affection," joined to Aodh, the old Irish name tied to fire; another simply glosses the whole thing as "born of fire" through Aodh alone. Both readings are seriously held, and neither has won.
Aodh → Cionaodh → Mac Cionaoith → McKenna → Makenna
How it traveled
The name begins as a patronymic in Ireland — Mac Cionaoith, borne by a family long associated with Truagh in County Monaghan — and traveled with Irish emigrants into English-speaking records as McKenna. In the late twentieth century American parents began using Irish and Scottish Mac- surnames as girls' first names, and McKenna moved with that current.
Meilani
Second element: Hawaiian lani, "heaven, sky, royal"; the first element is read more than one way
The -lani half is not in doubt. The Mei- half is read two ways: as Hawaiian mei, and as Chinese 美 (měi), "beautiful" — a reading that fits families where the two languages meet. A third possibility is simpler still: Meilani as a reshaping of Leilani, or a meeting of Melanie with the -lani names. No one of these has been established over the others.
How it traveled
The name's second half is genuinely and demonstrably Hawaiian: lani, meaning heaven, sky, or that which is royal and exalted, one of the most productive elements in the Hawaiian naming tradition. Names carrying it — Leilani above all — traveled from the islands into mainland American use across the twentieth century, and once a pattern is familiar, new names grow on it.
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
Makenna
muh-KEN-uh
Stress falls on the middle syllable. The first is a light, unstressed muh — not "may" — which is the one thing occasionally worth correcting.
- Kenna — The most common short form, and a standalone given name in its own right in US records.
- Mak — Informal, often written Mack; used among friends and on teams.
- Kenny — Informal and playful; also long established as a boy's name, so it reads as a nickname rather than a name.
- Mackie — Informal, family-level; sometimes spelled Makky.
- Also Ken.
Meilani
may-LAH-nee
Both the Hawaiian and Mandarin readings of the first syllable land close to "may". Some families say mye-LAH-nee. Stress sits on the second syllable either way.
- Lani — The most common short form, and a given name in its own right in American records.
- Mei — Used by families who read the first syllable as the Chinese element; also a standalone given name.
- Mei-Mei — Informal, household use, mostly for small children.
- Lanie — Informal English-style spelling of the short form.
- Also Mel.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Makenna if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMakenna is stepping back from its peak
Choose Meilani if you want…
- a name on the way upup 299 places on the charts in five years
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
Makenna
Strengths
- Spelling and sound match, so it survives being said aloud over a phone better than the McKenna and Mackenna forms.
- Comes with Kenna ready-made — a short form that also stands alone as a given name, giving a formal and an informal option from day one.
- Sits inside a sound family Americans already know from Mackenzie and McKenna, so it is grasped instantly even by people meeting it for the first time.
To consider
- It competes with McKenna, Mackenna, Mckenna and Makena, so expect to spell it out fairly often — the payoff is that your version needs no explaining once written.
- Surname-into-first-name is a distinctly recent American naming habit, and the sound sits with a particular cohort. It reads modern rather than timeless, which some parents want and some don't.
- The meaning is honest but layered: it comes through a family name, not a word, and the root behind that family name has never been settled. If a clear one-line meaning matters to you, this one will always need a paragraph.
Meilani
Strengths
- The -lani ending is already familiar from Leilani, so most English speakers place the name and its rhythm on first hearing.
- It reads as it sounds for English speakers: three syllables, no silent letters, no competing pronunciations to explain.
- Two ready short forms that already stand alone as names in their own right: Lani and Mei.
To consider
- It will be heard as Leilani, and written as Melani, Meilany or Melanie, more often than you would like. A short spelling-out becomes routine.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled in its first half. If you want a name whose translation you can state in one line, this one asks you to pick a reading and know it is a choice.
- Meilani is a recent coinage on a Hawaiian pattern rather than a traditional Hawaiian name. That matters to some families with island ties, and is worth knowing before someone else mentions it.
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 Makenna and Meilani in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Makenna or Meilani — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Makenna or Meilani?
- Meilani, in 2025: Meilani ranked #590 with 498 babies; Makenna ranked #593 with 495 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Makenna or Meilani?
- Meilani. Over the last five years Makenna moved down 191 places; Meilani moved up 299 places.
- Which is the older name, Makenna or Meilani?
- Makenna entered the US charts in 1982; Meilani entered the US charts in 1982. The record dates them to the same year.
- How many people are named Makenna and Meilani?
- About 33,500 people named Makenna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 3,900 people named Meilani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Makennas or Meilanis in the classroom?
- Makenna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Meilani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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