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The short answer
Nalani is a feminine name in current use in the United States: it ranked #414 for girls in the United States in 2025. Nalani is the Hawaiian Nālani, which Behind the Name glosses as "the heavens" or "the chiefs", from nā "the" and lani "heaven, sky, chief". The full derivation, and how far the sources will carry it, is set out below.
Meaning and etymology
Nalani is the macron-less spelling of Hawaiian Nālani. Behind the Name's entry for Nālani says it "Means 'the heavens' or 'the chiefs' from Hawaiian nā, a definite article, and lani 'heaven, sky, chief'". Wiktionary gives the same analysis — nā, the plural definite article, plus lani "sky" — and records the English Nalani as a borrowing (or misspelling) of Hawaiian Nālani.
Editorial confidence: established
Linguistic roots
| Language | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaiian | nā | the (plural definite article) |
| Hawaiian | lani | heaven, sky, chief |
Popularity
Nalani ranked #414 for girls in the United States in 2025. The figure comes from the Social Security Administration's national file for that year.
| Region | Year | Rank | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2025 | #414 | ssa-2025 |
Frequently asked questions
What does the name Nalani mean?
Nalani is the Hawaiian Nālani, which Behind the Name glosses as "the heavens" or "the chiefs", from nā "the" and lani "heaven, sky, chief".
Is Nalani a popular name?
Nalani ranked #414 for girls in the United States in 2025. (Social Security Administration data).
Is Nalani a boy's or a girl's name?
In the 2025 SSA data Nalani appears in the girls' list.
Sources
- U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names — national data, year of birth 2025 — supports popularity, gender usage.
- Behind the Name: Meaning, origin and history of the name Nālani — supports meaning, Hawaiian usage, roots.
- Wiktionary: Nālani — Wiktionary, the free dictionary — supports Hawaiian roots nā + lani.
- Wiktionary: Nalani — Wiktionary, the free dictionary — supports Nalani as a borrowing of Hawaiian Nālani.
