Jelani
Feminine · “mighty”
Jelani is given to both — 942 girls and 4,718 boys since 1880. See Jelani as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Jelani is usually given as Swahili for mighty, and the sound also carries the Arabic Jilani, from a province of Iran.
How old is the name Jelani?
Jelani first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Jelani is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Jelani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jelani most popular?
Jelani peaked in 2024, reaching #2150 nationally. Today it ranks #2583, 433 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From al-Jilani to Jelani
The story of Jelani
Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani founded the Qadiriyya, one of the oldest and most widespread Sufi orders, and his epithet names a Caspian province of Iran; the name traveled with the order into West and East Africa. The Swahili 'mighty' reading is common in American name books and less well attested. Jelani is used for both sexes and is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
mighty; of Gilan
Commonly given as Swahili for 'mighty', an attribution widely repeated but weakly sourced. A better-documented route is the Arabic al-Jilani, 'of Gilan' — the epithet of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, founder of a major Sufi order. Neither is settled for American use.
How the name formed
- al-Jilani
- Jelani
Related forms: الجيلاني · Jelani · Jilani
Pronouncing Jelani
jeh-LAH-nee
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Arabic Jilani is jee-LAH-nee.
Nicknames for Jelani
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
- 1975
- Most girls named
- 202488 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2150reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −23.9%67 in 2025, from 88
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.
Jelani in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- الجيلاني in Arabic — related form
- Jelani in Swahili — same name
- Jilani in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Georgia, New York.
Jelanis among us
people named Jelani are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 23,989 born in 2025 was named Jelani
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Jelani
- #2583
- Jelani on the 2025 chart
- #883
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Jelani went to 67 girls in 2025, but Jelany is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 77, which makes it the 883rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,700 places above the chart.
- Jelani67
- Jelany10
About 1 girl in 20,874 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 23,989 for Jelani 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 Lindi test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jelani's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lindi climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lindi's path sketches the road Jelani is walking now.
Jelani 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 Jelani is headed
Jelani looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 39% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Jelani beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jelani in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The founder of one of the great Sufi orders stands behind the Arabic route.
- Lani is available as a short form with real use.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- The Swahili 'mighty' reading is widely repeated but poorly sourced.
- The two candidate origins are unrelated.
- It is used for both sexes in America.
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What they receive
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Jelani
Feminine · #2583 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jelanis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Jelani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Jelani?
- Jelani is the most-used spelling in US records — 67 of the 77 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Jelany.
- How popular is the name Jelani in 2025?
- Jelani ranks #2583 among US girl names in 2025, with 67 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jelani?
- About 1 in every 23,989 US girls born in 2025 was named Jelani — 67 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jelani with classmates?
- Jelani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jelani
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Azra#2583 · Maleni#2583 · Liba#2583 · Talya#2583 · Nature#2583 · Xylah#2583 · Island#2583 · Aveline#2583
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jelani? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jelani and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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