Pualani
Hawaiian name meaning "flower from the heavens" or "heavenly flower".
Name Census estimates that about 113 living Americans carry the first name Pualani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pualani today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pualani births was 1978 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pualani. 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.
People living today
113
~ 1 in 3,033,224 Americans
Peak year
1978
9 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,030
Tracked since 1939
Census
Pualani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Pualani, which placed it at #38,397 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
#38,397
National first-name rank
People counted
200
200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
42.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pualani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pualani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 42.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (34.5%) and Hispanic (15.5%). 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 Pualani 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 Pualani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander42.0% · 84
- Two or more races34.5% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino15.5% · 31
- White8.0% · 16
Popularity
Pualani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pualani from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 28 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pualani 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 Pualani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pualanis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pualani
The name Pualani has its origins in the Hawaiian language and culture. It is a combination of two words: "pua" meaning flower or blossom, and "lani" meaning heaven or heavenly. The name can be translated to mean "heavenly flower" or "flower of heaven."
In Hawaiian tradition, names often have a deep connection to nature and the environment. The name Pualani reflects the importance of flora and the beauty of the natural world in Hawaiian culture. It is a name that evokes images of vibrant, fragrant flowers blooming under the warm, tropical sun.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Pualani can be traced back to the late 18th century, during the time of the Hawaiian monarchy. However, it is likely that the name existed and was in use long before written records were kept.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name Pualani was Princess Pualani, who lived in the late 18th century. She was a member of the Hawaiian royal family and played a significant role in the preservation of Hawaiian culture and traditions.
Another historically significant Pualani was Pualani Kanae, born in 1846. She was a Hawaiian chiefess and landowner who played a pivotal role in the preservation of Hawaiian land rights during the tumultuous period of the Hawaiian Kingdom's transition to a constitutional monarchy.
In the 20th century, Pualani Brown, born in 1912, was a prominent Hawaiian educator and advocate for Native Hawaiian rights. She dedicated her life to preserving and promoting Hawaiian language, culture, and traditions.
Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele, born in 1942, is a renowned Hawaiian cultural practitioner, hula master, and composer. She has been instrumental in the revitalization and perpetuation of Hawaiian cultural practices, including hula, chant, and storytelling.
Another notable Pualani is Pualani Everett, born in 1939, who is a respected Hawaiian artist and educator. Her artwork often depicts traditional Hawaiian motifs and themes, celebrating the beauty and richness of Hawaiian culture.
While the name Pualani may have evolved over time, it has remained a beloved and cherished name in Hawaiian culture, representing the enduring connection between the people and the natural world that surrounds them.
People
Pualani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pualani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pualani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pualani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 113 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pualani 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 3,033,224 US residents.
Is Pualani a common name?
We classify Pualani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pualani most popular?
The single biggest year for Pualani was 1978, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pualani is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pualani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Pualani, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,397 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 Pualani 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 Pualani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pualani appears almost entirely female. Of the 199 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Pualani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pualani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 42.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (34.5%) and Hispanic (15.5%). 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 Pualani most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Pualani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.0% (84 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 Pualani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pualani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pualani 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 Pualani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pualani 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 Pualani 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 Americans are named Pualani?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.