Meilani is a modern American coinage in the Hawaiian style, usually read as a blend of Mei, the Chinese word for "beautiful", and lani, the Hawaiian word for "heavenly", so parents often take it to mean "heavenly beauty". It follows popular names like Leilani and Kailani with a fresh first syllable. Meilani drifted around number 900 for most of the 2010s, moved into the top 1000 in 2022 and reached number 591 in 2025, its highest rank so far.