Head to head · Girls' names
Meilani vs Paris
#590 vs #592 in 2025
Meilani is a whisker ahead (#590 vs #592 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Meilani is climbing the charts fast, Paris 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
The tape is even: Meilani and Paris 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
- 1910s: Meilani —, Paris #3555 — Paris higher
- 1920s: Meilani —, Paris #4003 — Paris higher
- 1930s: Meilani —, Paris #3772 — Paris higher
- 1940s: Meilani —, Paris #3570 — Paris higher
- 1950s: Meilani —, Paris #2629 — Paris higher
- 1960s: Meilani —, Paris #1481 — Paris higher
- 1970s: Meilani —, Paris #1863 — Paris higher
- 1980s: Meilani #7757, Paris #989 — Paris higher
- 1990s: Meilani #8482, Paris #490 — Paris higher
- 2000s: Meilani #5807, Paris #359 — Paris higher
- 2010s: Meilani #3066, Paris #297 — Paris higher
- 2020s: Meilani #863, Paris #486 — Paris higher
Paris stood higher in every recorded decade — 12 of 12.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Meilani | Paris |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | — | #3555 |
| 1920s | — | #4003 |
| 1930s | — | #3772 |
| 1940s | — | #3570 |
| 1950s | — | #2629 |
| 1960s | — | #1481 |
| 1970s | — | #1863 |
| 1980s | #7757 | #989 |
| 1990s | #8482 | #490 |
| 2000s | #5807 | #359 |
| 2010s | #3066 | #297 |
| 2020s | #863 | #486 |
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
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.
Paris
Not established
Nobody has settled a meaning for this one, and both of its roads end the same way. The city is named for the Parisii, a Gaulish people whose own tribal name has never been convincingly translated — the Roman town on that site was called Lutetia first. The Trojan prince's name in Greek, Πάρις, is older than Greek itself and resists translation too. What the record gives is ownership and place, not a definition.
Parisii (Gaulish people) → Latin Parisius → Old French Paris → English Paris
How it traveled
The oldest Paris is the Trojan prince of Homer's Iliad, and the name traveled into medieval Europe with him — it appears on English records in the Middle Ages as a man's name and hardened into a surname. The city carries a separate history: a Roman settlement called Lutetia in the territory of the Parisii, which in late Roman and early medieval usage came to be called by the tribe's name instead.
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
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.
Paris
PAIR-iss
PAIR-iss throughout the English-speaking world, stress on the first syllable. The French pronounce the city's name pa-REE, and some families enjoy that version; both are understood, but the English form is what a US classroom will default to.
- Pari — Informal, mostly family use; also stands alone as a given name in Persian.
- P — Initial-only, informal — the kind of thing friends and teammates land on.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Meilani if you want…
- a name on the way upup 299 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMeilani runs 3 syllables, Paris 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Lani, Mei and Mei-Mei
Choose Paris if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsParis is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesParis is 2 syllables to Meilani's 3
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
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.
Paris
Strengths
- Spelled the way everyone already spells it — one of the few names you almost never have to repeat, clarify or correct.
- Recognized in nearly every language on earth, which travels well across borders and family lines.
- Two clean syllables with the stress up front; sits easily beside long surnames and short ones alike.
To consider
- It is inseparable from the city. Expect a lifetime of remarks about the Eiffel Tower, croissants and whether she's been — friendly, mostly, but constant.
- The name's rise and its current easing back both track a very visible American celebrity of the early 2000s. For people who remember that era, the association is still the first one they reach for.
- In Homer, Paris is a man — the prince who left with Helen and helped start the war. In the US the spelling reads as a girl's name without confusion, but the classical figure is a mixed literary godparent.
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 Meilani and Paris 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 Meilani and Paris?
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 these names appear on
Where Meilani and Paris each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Meilani or Paris — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Meilani or Paris?
- Meilani, in 2025: Meilani ranked #590 with 498 babies; Paris ranked #592 with 497 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Meilani or Paris?
- Meilani. Over the last five years Meilani moved up 299 places; Paris moved down 176 places.
- Which is the older name, Meilani or Paris?
- Meilani entered the US charts in 1982; Paris entered the US charts in 1917. On the American record, Paris is the older name.
- How many people are named Meilani and Paris?
- About 3,900 people named Meilani are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 33,000 people named Paris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Meilanis or Pariss in the classroom?
- Meilani will almost certainly be the only one in school. Paris 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
Keep playing
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