Ani
Feminine
Ani is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 3,183 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Ani is a ruined city. It sits on the Turkish side of the Armenian border, it was a capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom, and it was famous enough in its time to be called the city of a thousand and one churches.
How old is the name Ani?
Ani first appears in US birth records in 1958 — 67 years ago. The typical Ani alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 3,100 people named Ani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ani most popular?
Ani peaked in 2004, reaching #1684 nationally. Today it ranks #2957, 1,273 places below that high. See the whole 2004 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Ani
Ani was the capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom in the tenth and eleventh centuries and one of the larger cities in the world at the time; it was taken, sacked and finally abandoned after an earthquake, and what stands now is a field of churches on a gorge. Armenian families give the name to daughters as an act of memory, which makes it a national name rather than a personal one. It reaches United States records with Armenian families and, separately, as an English short form of longer names.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The city's own name is older than the Armenian kingdom that made it a capital and its derivation is not established; it may come from a pre-Armenian language of the region, and a connection to a local pagan goddess has been proposed. Separately, Ani serves in English as a short form of Anna, Aniya and Anika, none of which is the source of the Armenian name. Nothing here is settled.
Pronouncing Ani
AH-nee
Two syllables, stress on the first, both vowels clean. English speakers sometimes say ANN-ee, with a flatter first vowel, which is the Annie saying rather than the Armenian one.
Nicknames for Ani
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1958
- Most girls named
- 2007122 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1684reached in 2004
- Change vs 2024
- −30.0%56 in 2025, from 80
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ani in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Անի in Armenian — transliteration
- Ani in Hebrew — related form
- Annie in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Massachusetts.
Anis among us
people named Ani are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 28,701 born in 2025 was named Ani
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Ani
- #2957
- Ani on the 2025 chart
- #807
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ani went to 56 girls in 2025, but Anny, Anni and Any and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 153, which makes it the 807th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,150 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 10,505 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 28,701 for Ani itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jeanelle test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ani's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jeanelle climbed just as high around 1939, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jeanelle's path sketches the road Ani is walking now.
Ani sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Ani is headed
Ani should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Ani beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ani in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters, two syllables, and easy for a small child to say and write.
- A real and significant place with a documented history behind it.
- Short and open, which pairs well with a long or complicated surname.
- Its meaning is genuinely unknown, since the city's own name has never been traced.
- It is very short and will be read as a nickname for Anna or Annie on forms.
- Ani, Annie and Anni all circulate and belong to different traditions.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Ani
Feminine · #2957 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Ani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Ani?
- Ani is one of 5 recorded spellings. Anny is the more common one — 59 births in 2025 against 56 for Ani.
- How popular is the name Ani in 2025?
- Ani ranks #2957 among US girl names in 2025, with 56 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ani?
- About 1 in every 28,701 US girls born in 2025 was named Ani — 56 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ani with classmates?
- Ani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ani
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Klaire#2957 · Pauline#2957 · Alea#2957 · Odelia#2957 · Rahaf#2957 · Rosabella#2957 · Kenzlee#2957 · Kalli#2957
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ani? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ani and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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