Lailani is a variant of Leilani, the Hawaiian name made of lei, a garland of flowers, and lani, heaven, so it means "heavenly flowers" or "heavenly garland". The spelling with -ai- brings it closer to Layla and Laila. In the United States Lailani has climbed from number 2069 in 2015 to number 1070 in 2025, its best rank so far.