Ailani

Pronounced aee LAH nee
Number 1

About the name Ailani

According to most name dictionaries, Ailani is a Hawaiian girl's name meaning "chief". I was suspicious of this so I researched further.

The Hawaiian word lani means "heavens" or "sky", and also royalty and high status, sort of like saying "his majesty". (It is used to indicate royalty in other names too.)

The ai element is actually 'ai and it relates to food. It can be a noun "food", or a verb "eat" or describe something as edible. It's used as an element in several words to indicate their relationship to food. (See my source here)

My search also led me to 'Ai lani Orchard and they say that their name means "to eat heaven" or "spiritual food", and I'm willing to trust that since they are Hawaiian after all.

So I declare Ailani to mean "food of heaven".
Not "chief". But maybe food for the chief, or king. Or maybe the chief of foods.

I am unconvinced this is a girls-only name, however, so I'm going to go ahead and mark it gender-neutral for now.

Related Names

Lani

Origin
America
Hawaiian

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