Ilana
Feminine · “tree”
Ilana is a tree in Hebrew — ilan — and Tu BiShvat is the new year of the trees, which the name belongs to.
How old is the name Ilana?
Ilana first appears in US birth records in 1946 — 79 years ago. The typical Ilana alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 5,500 people named Ilana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ilana most popular?
Ilana peaked in 1987, reaching #1182 nationally. Today it ranks #2485, 1,303 places below that high. See the whole 1987 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ilan to Ilana
The story of Ilana
Modern Israeli naming built freely on ordinary Hebrew nouns — Ilana from a tree, Ora from light, Aliza from joyful — rather than only on biblical figures. Tu BiShvat, the new year of the trees, gave the word a festival of its own. Ilana appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
tree
From the Hebrew ilan, 'tree', with a feminine ending. It is ordinary modern Hebrew vocabulary rather than a biblical name. Tu BiShvat is a festival for trees. The Hebrew is documented and the reading undisputed.
How the name formed
- ilan
- Ilana
Related forms: אילנה · Elana · Ilan
Pronouncing Ilana
ee-LAH-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Hebrew stresses the last, il-a-NAH.
Nicknames for Ilana
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
- 1946
- Most girls named
- 1997131 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1182reached in 1987
- Change vs 2023
- −12.3%71 in 2025, from 81
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.
Ilana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- אילנה in Hebrew — transliteration
- Elana in English — spelling variant
- Ilan in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Ilanas among us
people named Ilana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 22,638 born in 2025 was named Ilana
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Devona test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ilana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Devona climbed just as high around 1970, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Devona's path sketches the road Ilana is walking now.
Ilana 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 Ilana is headed
Ilana 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.
Ilana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ilana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The tree meaning is concrete and undisputed.
- Ila and Lana are two short forms, both real names elsewhere.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- Elana and Ilana are both in circulation.
- Hebrew and English stress it differently.
- It reads as specifically Israeli.
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What they receive
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Ilana
Feminine · #2485 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ilanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,500 people named Ilana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ilana in 2025?
- Ilana ranks #2485 among US girl names in 2025, with 71 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ilana?
- About 1 in every 22,638 US girls born in 2025 was named Ilana — 71 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ilana with classmates?
- Ilana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ilana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kinlee#2485 · Serayah#2485 · Sariya#2485 · Caitlyn#2485 · Laiken#2485 · Briseida#2485 · Marguerite#2485 · Levi#2485
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ilana? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ilana and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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