Nilani

Meaning of Nilani

Nilani, primarily attested within Hawaiian onomastics as a compound deriving from lani (‘heaven’ or ‘sky’), conveys a semantic domain of celestial and aerial imagery; its phonetic realization (/niːˈlɑni/) adheres strictly to Hawaiian phonotactics, featuring an elongated high vowel onset, medial stress, and an open final syllable. In a secondary linguistic stratum, it emerges from the Sanskrit root nīla (‘blue’ or ‘sapphire’), extending its associative field to encompass chromatic depth and luminosity. Empirical data from United States Social Security records for the period 2010–2024 position Nilani consistently within the 900–960 rank decile, peaking at 926th in 2023 with 32 recorded instances and registering 21 newborn bearers in 2024, thus illustrating a pattern of stable yet marginal fluctuation within contemporary Anglo-American naming praxis. This composite onomastic profile, characterized by cross-cultural etymological layers, precise phonological attributes, and longitudinal popularity metrics, supports analytical engagement with Nilani as a technical exemplar in modern naming studies.

Pronunciation

Hawaiian

• Pronunced as nee-LAH-nee (/niːˈlɑni/)

• Nila
• Nilaya
• Nilam