Jalani
Masculine
Jalani is given to both — 670 boys and 1,676 girls since 1880. See Jalani as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Jalani sits between an American formation and a genuine Arabic name. Al-Jilani is the title of one of the most influential figures in Sufism, and Ja- plus -lani is exactly what American naming was building in the same years.
How old is the name Jalani?
Jalani first appears in US birth records in 1973 — 52 years ago. The typical Jalani alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 700 people named Jalani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jalani most popular?
Jalani peaked in 2002, reaching #2943 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 2,665 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Jalani
Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, who died in Baghdad in 1166, is one of the most widely venerated figures in the Muslim world; the Qadiriyya order takes its name from him and has followers from Morocco to Indonesia. His nisba, al-Jilani, marks him as from Gilan on the Caspian, and it is used as a name in South Asia and West Africa. Meanwhile in American records Jalani appears in the 1990s alongside Jelani, Jalen, Jamari and Kalani, which are a mix of genuine borrowings and prefix formations. Jelani in particular is often glossed as Swahili for mighty, an attribution no Swahili source supports. Jalani's 2002 peak sits inside that mixed group, and the honest account names both roads.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source establishes an etymology. Arabic al-Jīlānī is a nisba — a name of origin — meaning of Gilan, the Iranian province, borne by the Sufi Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani; that reading is settled for Jilani. Whether the American Jalani descends from it is not documented. The Ja- prefix and the -lani ending were both productive in American naming in the same period, and Hawaiian lani, sky, is separately offered without support.
Pronouncing Jalani
juh-LAH-nee
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Arabic al-Jilani is jee-LAH-nee with a long first vowel, which is close.
Nicknames for Jalani
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
- 1973
- Most boys named
- 202233 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2943reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- −15.8%16 in 2025, from 19
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.
Jalani in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- الجيلاني in Arabic — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Georgia, North Carolina, New York.
Jalanis among us
people named Jalani are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Jalani
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 Rj test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jalani's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rj climbed just as high around 1987, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rj's path sketches the road Jalani is walking now.
Jalani 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
Jalani beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jalani in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Lani works as a short form and is a real name elsewhere.
- The vowels are open and there is no difficult consonant.
- It reads immediately as a name.
- There is no established meaning for the American name.
- Jalani, Jelani, Jilani and Jalanie are four spellings of nearly one sound.
- The Swahili gloss attached to Jelani is not supported by any source.
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What they receive
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Jalani
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jalanis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Jalani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jalani in 2025?
- Jalani ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jalani?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Jalani — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jalani with classmates?
- Jalani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jalani
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rolland#5608 · Llewellyn#5608 · Arlie#5608 · Gerrit#5608 · Vinson#5608 · Georgie#5608 · Wally#5608 · Webb#5608
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jalani? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jalani and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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