Nani
Feminine · “beauty”
Nani is beauty in Hawaiian, and it is one of the words the language uses most: a place is nani, a day is nani, a person is nani. It also means a maternal grandmother in Hindi and Urdu, and it serves as a pet form for a whole set of Italian and Greek names.
How old is the name Nani?
Nani first appears in US birth records in 1922 — 103 years ago. The typical Nani alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 700 people named Nani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nani most popular?
Nani peaked in 2021, reaching #3801 nationally. Today it ranks #5099, 1,298 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Nani
Hawaiian names are usually plain words, and nani is among the commonest of them; it appears in place names, in songs and in the language's ordinary vocabulary for anything lovely. The word survived the near-suppression of the language and is part of its recovery. Elsewhere the same four letters mean quite different things: a grandmother in South Asia, a nickname in southern Europe. American records carry all of them.
Meaningscholars disagree
beauty; splendor
Hawaiian nani, beauty or glory, is an ordinary and much-used word and a genuine name. Hindi and Urdu nani is a maternal grandmother, which is a different word entirely. And in Italian and Greek, Nani serves as an affectionate clipping of longer names. All three are real.
Pronouncing Nani
NAH-nee
Two syllables, stress in front, both vowels open. Hawaiian, Hindi and Italian all say it much the same way.
Nicknames for Nani
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
- 1922
- Most girls named
- 202139 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3801reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −3.8%25 in 2025, from 26
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.
Nani in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nani in Hawaiian — same name
- नानी in Hindi — related form
- Nanni in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Nanis among us
people named Nani are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 64,291 born in 2025 was named Nani
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 Marlies test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nani's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marlies climbed just as high around 1963, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marlies's path sketches the road Nani is walking now.
Nani 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 Nani is headed
Nani should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Nani beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nani in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two open syllables: as easy as a name gets in almost any language.
- The Hawaiian meaning is one warm word and needs no explaining there.
- It is short and soft, and very young children can say it early.
- In South Asian households it means a grandmother, which changes how the name is heard.
- It belongs to a language and a people with a specific history, and using it from outside reads differently to those inside.
- It is short enough to offer nothing to shorten and no formal register.
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What they receive
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Nani
Feminine · #5099 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nanis 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 Nani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nani in 2025?
- Nani ranks #5099 among US girl names in 2025, with 25 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nani?
- About 1 in every 64,291 US girls born in 2025 was named Nani — 25 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nani with classmates?
- Nani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nani
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Janette#5099 · Loraine#5099 · Delfina#5099 · Hali#5099 · Mecca#5099 · Zoi#5099 · Afia#5099 · Emelie#5099
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nani? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nani and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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