Imoni
Feminine · “Swahili "faith”
Imani is one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, a holiday created in 1966. The principles were given Swahili names — Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba, Imani — and several of them went straight into American naming from there.
How old is the name Imoni?
Imoni first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Imoni alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 600 people named Imoni are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Imoni most popular?
Imoni peaked in 1995, reaching #3492 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 4,393 places below that high. See the whole 1995 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From īmān to Imoni
The story of Imoni
Kwanzaa was established in 1966 by Maulana Karenga as an African-American cultural holiday running from 26 December to 1 January, with each day devoted to one of the Nguzo Saba, seven principles named in Swahili. Swahili was chosen as a pan-African lingua franca rather than because of any specific ancestral connection. Several of the principle names entered American naming almost immediately: Imani is by far the most used, with Nia and Kuumba also appearing. That makes them one of the few name groups whose introduction to American English can be dated to a single year and attributed to a single document. The Imoni spelling peaks in 1995.
Meaning
Swahili "faith"
From Swahili imani, faith or belief, borrowed from Arabic īmān, from the root ʾ-m-n, which also gives amin and the Hebrew amen. Imani is the seventh principle of Kwanzaa, celebrated on 1 January. Imoni is an American respelling; the vowel change carries no meaning. The name is used for both sexes but predominantly for girls.
How the name formed
- īmān
- imani
- Imani
- Imoni
Related forms: Imani · إيمان
Pronouncing Imoni
ih-MOH-nee
Three syllables, stress on the second. Imani is ih-MAH-nee with an open middle vowel, so the respelling changes the sound as well as the letters.
Nicknames for Imoni
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
- 1991
- Most girls named
- 199531 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3492reached in 1995
- Change vs 2024
- +62.5%13 in 2025, from 8
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.
Imoni in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Imani in Swahili — spelling variant
- إيمان in Arabic — related form
Imonis among us
people named Imoni are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Imoni
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 Dariel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Imoni's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dariel climbed just as high around 1943, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dariel's path sketches the road Imoni is walking now.
Imoni 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
Imoni beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Imoni in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and positive.
- Moni works as a short form.
- It is soft, three syllables and easy to say.
- Imani is the standard spelling and is pronounced differently.
- It reads as unisex in Swahili usage.
- The 1990s peak dates a bearer fairly clearly.
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What they receive
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Imoni
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Imonis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Imoni are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Imoni in 2025?
- Imoni ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Imoni?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Imoni — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Imoni with classmates?
- Imoni will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Imoni
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Imoni? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Imoni and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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