Lelani
Flower from heaven, of Hawaiian origin.
Name Census estimates that about 943 living Americans carry the first name Lelani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lelani today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lelani births was 2024 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lelani. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Lelani with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
943
~ 1 in 363,472 Americans
Peak year
2024
51 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,136
Tracked since 1948
Census
Lelani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,023 people with the first name Lelani, which placed it at #12,227 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,227
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,023 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
38.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lelani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lelani is Hispanic at 38.4%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and White (17.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Lelani described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Lelani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino38.4% · 393
- Black or African American22.4% · 229
- White17.6% · 180
- Two or more races10.8% · 110
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.2% · 94
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 17
Popularity
Lelani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lelani from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 273 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lelani by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Lelani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lelanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Lelani, while Tennessee, Illinois, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lelani
The name Lelani is a Hawaiian name that has its origins in the Polynesian languages spoken throughout the Pacific Islands. It is derived from the combination of the Hawaiian words "lele," meaning "air" or "sky," and "lani," meaning "heaven" or "heavenly." Together, the name Lelani can be interpreted to mean "heavenly air" or "heavenly sky."
The earliest recorded use of the name Lelani dates back to the late 19th century, when it was used by native Hawaiians as a name for their children. The name gained popularity throughout the 20th century, particularly in Hawaii and other parts of the United States with significant Hawaiian and Polynesian populations.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Lelani was Lelani Kamakau, a Hawaiian princess who lived in the early 19th century. She was a member of the royal family and played an important role in preserving Hawaiian culture and traditions.
Another notable figure was Lelani Woodard, an American actress and dancer who was born in 1922 and passed away in 2005. She appeared in several films and television shows throughout her career, including the classic musical "South Pacific."
In the field of sports, Lelani Munter is a professional race car driver who has competed in various motorsports events, including the IndyCar Series and the ARCA Racing Series. She was born in 1974 and is known for her advocacy of environmental causes and veganism.
Lelani Bertelman was a Hawaiian musician and composer who lived from 1929 to 2018. She was renowned for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Hawaiian music, and her compositions were widely acclaimed.
Lelani Arce is a contemporary artist and illustrator based in Hawaii. Born in 1982, she is known for her vibrant and colorful depictions of Hawaiian culture, landscapes, and wildlife, often incorporating elements of traditional Hawaiian art and mythology.
While the name Lelani has its roots in Hawaiian culture, it has gained popularity across various cultures and communities around the world, particularly among those with an appreciation for its beautiful meaning and connection to nature and the heavens.
People
Lelani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lelani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lelani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lelani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 943 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lelani going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 363,472 US residents.
Is Lelani a common name?
We classify Lelani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 973 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lelani most popular?
The single biggest year for Lelani was 2024, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lelani is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lelani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,023 people with the name Lelani, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,227 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Lelani in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Lelani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lelani appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,020 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Lelani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lelani is Hispanic at 38.4%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and White (17.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Lelani most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Lelani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.4% (393 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Lelani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lelani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lelani in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Lelani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lelani in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Lelani can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Lelani?
Want to know how many people have the name Lelani? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.