Kalei
Feminine · “Hawaiian ka lei”
Kalei is given to both — 1,948 girls and 276 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Hawaiian names often include their own article. Ka is the definite article, so Kalei is the lei, Kamaka is the eye, Kaleo is the voice. English does not do this: nobody is called The Garland. The Hawaiian name is a complete noun phrase, and cutting the article off it produces a different word.
How old is the name Kalei?
Kalei first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Kalei alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 1,900 people named Kalei are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kalei most popular?
Kalei peaked in 2003, reaching #1395 nationally. Today it ranks #8362, 6,967 places below that high. See the whole 2003 chart.
Where it comes from
From ka lei to Kalei
The story of Kalei
The lei is a specific cultural object with a set of protocols around it, not simply a decoration: leis are given at arrivals, departures, graduations and funerals, made from flowers, leaves, shells, feathers or seeds, and the type of material carries meaning. Feather leis were reserved for chiefs. The word also serves as a metaphor for a cherished child, so calling a child a lei is calling them something worn close and made carefully. Hawaiian personal names are built freely from ordinary vocabulary and are often long noun phrases describing an event at the time of birth, a place or a quality, and the article is simply part of the phrase. Shortened forms circulate in ordinary use, but the article-bearing form is the name, and Kalei is one of the commonest of them.
Meaning
Hawaiian ka lei, the garland
From Hawaiian ka, the definite article, and lei, a garland or wreath worn around the neck, and by extension a beloved child. The compound is a common element in Hawaiian names and appears in longer ones such as Kaleimomi and Leilani. It is used for both sexes. It peaks in the American data in 2003.
How the name formed
- ka lei
- Kalei
Related forms: Kalei
Pronouncing Kalei
kah-LAY
Two syllables, stress on the second, with the ei as the diphthong of day. Every Hawaiian vowel is fully pronounced, so the first syllable is a clean ah rather than a reduced vowel.
Nicknames for Kalei
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
- 1980
- Most girls named
- 2003142 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1395reached in 2003
- Change vs 2024
- −52.0%12 in 2025, from 25
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.
Kalei in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kalei in Hawaiian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Kaleis among us
people named Kalei are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 133,939 born in 2025 was named Kalei
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kalei
- #8362
- Kalei on the 2025 chart
- #890
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kalei went to 12 girls in 2025, but Kaley, Caley and Calley and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 70, which makes it the 890th most-given girls’ name of the year — 7,472 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 22,961 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 133,939 for Kalei 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 Tamyra test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kalei's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tamyra climbed just as high around 1958, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tamyra's path sketches the road Kalei is walking now.
Kalei 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
Kalei beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kalei 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, concrete and culturally specific.
- It is used for both sexes in Hawaiian.
- Lei works as a short form.
- English speakers reduce the first vowel.
- Kaleigh and Kaylee are near-homophones from a completely different tradition.
- It is rare outside Hawaiian and Pacific Islander families.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kalei
Feminine · #8362 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kaleis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Kalei are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kalei?
- Kalei is one of 5 recorded spellings. Kaley is the more common one — 38 births in 2025 against 12 for Kalei.
- How popular is the name Kalei in 2025?
- Kalei ranks #8362 among US girl names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kalei?
- About 1 in every 133,939 US girls born in 2025 was named Kalei — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kalei with classmates?
- Kalei will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kalei
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lona#8362 · Peggy#8362 · Leda#8362 · Margarette#8362 · Rella#8362 · Evalena#8362 · Vashti#8362 · Nona#8362
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kalei? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kalei and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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