Maelani
Feminine · “heavenly”
Maelani reads as Hawaiian — mae for fading softly, lani for the sky — though the compound itself is an American formation rather than a traditional Hawaiian name.
How old is the name Maelani?
Maelani first appears in US birth records in 1999 — 26 years ago. The typical Maelani is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 800 people named Maelani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maelani most popular?
Maelani peaked in 2025, reaching #1548 nationally. Today it ranks #1548, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Maelani appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From lani to Maelani
Our story of Maelani
Our story of Maelani is a story of a borrowed ending. Hawaiian naming gave American English one of its most attractive suffixes: -lani, the sky, which closes Leilani, Kailani, Noelani and many more. Once a suffix is that recognizable, families outside the tradition start building with it. Maelani joins the English Mae to that Hawaiian back. It appears in the American registers in the 2010s. The ending is genuinely Hawaiian; the name is genuinely American, and both halves of that are worth saying plainly.
Meaningscholars disagree
heavenly
The lani element is genuine Hawaiian for 'sky', 'heaven' or 'royal', and it ends dozens of real names. The mae front is less certain: Hawaiian mae means 'to wilt' or 'fade', which is not the sense families intend, so the front is more likely the English Mae. The compound is not traditional.
How the name formed
- lani
- Maelani
Related forms: Leilani · Kailani · Maelanie
Pronouncing Maelani
may-LAH-nee
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Hawaiian gives every vowel a full value with no reduction.
Nicknames for Maelani
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
- 1999
- Most girls named
- 2025136 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1548reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +3.8%136 in 2025, from 131
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.
Maelani in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leilani in Hawaiian — related form
- Kailani in Hawaiian — related form
- Maelanie in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Maelanis among us
people named Maelani are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 11,818 born in 2025 was named Maelani
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 Markeisha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maelani's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Markeisha climbed just as high around 1992, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Markeisha's path sketches the road Maelani is walking now.
Maelani is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Maelani is headed
Maelani is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 60% more babies given the name than today.
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.
Maelani beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maelani in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The lani ending is genuinely Hawaiian and its meaning is undisputed.
- Mae and Lani are two short forms, both real names in their own right.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- It is not a traditional Hawaiian name, and the Hawaiian mae means something else.
- Melani and Melanie are close enough to cause constant confusion.
- It is very new and will need spelling out.
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What they receive
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Maelani
Feminine · #1548 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maelanis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Maelani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maelani in 2025?
- Maelani ranks #1548 among US girl names in 2025, with 136 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maelani?
- About 1 in every 11,818 US girls born in 2025 was named Maelani — 136 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maelani with classmates?
- Maelani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maelani
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Skylynn#1548 · Keila#1548 · Addilynn#1548 · Mavie#1548 · Marcela#1548 · Raine#1548 · Theresa#1548 · Avalyn#1548
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maelani? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maelani and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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