Baby name
RISING
🇺🇸 Malani
/muh · LAH · nee/
Meaning
“Possibly heaven or sky”
Possibly a modern coinage that blends the name Melanie with the Hawaiian name element lani, meaning "heaven" or "sky" (as in Leilani and Kalani). Some baby-name sites gloss it simply as "calm" or "peaceful," though that reading is not supported by etymological sources.
Vibe
gentlewarm
How it ages.
A soft, modern name that sounds fresh today and has room to grow with its owner into adulthood.
The cultural moment.
Malani has been climbing in the United States, rising from rank #920 in 2017 to #330 in 2024, before easing slightly to #374 in 2025.