# Imani (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/imani/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Swahili |
| Meaning | “faith”, “belief” |
| Pronunciation | /ɪˈmɑni/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 29,212 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,395 / 27,817 (95% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,592, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Swahili, from imani (“faith, belief”), from Arabic إِيمَان (ʔīmān).

## What it means

Imani is grouped under faith.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 809 | 392 |
| 2012 | 807 | 387 |
| 2013 | 630 | 482 |
| 2014 | 626 | 500 |
| 2015 | 585 | 533 |
| 2016 | 577 | 541 |
| 2017 | 573 | 541 |
| 2018 | 607 | 516 |
| 2019 | 597 | 521 |
| 2020 | 580 | 522 |
| 2021 | 583 | 530 |
| 2022 | 627 | 504 |
| 2023 | 647 | 476 |
| 2024 | 585 | 526 |
| 2025 | 512 | 579 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 32 | 3,389 |
| 2012 | 26 | 3,940 |
| 2013 | 24 | 4,111 |
| 2014 | 20 | 4,760 |
| 2015 | 19 | 4,948 |
| 2016 | 25 | 4,140 |
| 2017 | 35 | 3,270 |
| 2018 | 23 | 4,411 |
| 2019 | 40 | 3,013 |
| 2020 | 32 | 3,448 |
| 2021 | 58 | 2,357 |
| 2022 | 47 | 2,769 |
| 2023 | 54 | 2,493 |
| 2024 | 46 | 2,805 |
| 2025 | 41 | 3,014 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 56 | 692 |
| 2012 | 59 | 701 |
| 2013 | 54 | 733 |
| 2014 | 38 | 963 |
| 2015 | 48 | 794 |
| 2016 | 71 | 594 |
| 2017 | 57 | 715 |
| 2018 | 58 | 689 |
| 2019 | 56 | 694 |
| 2020 | 57 | 655 |
| 2021 | 57 | 674 |
| 2022 | 63 | 606 |
| 2023 | 63 | 600 |
| 2024 | 67 | 583 |
| 2025 | 59 | 650 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 6 | 2,189 |
| 2004 | 4 | 3,009 |
| 2008 | 3 | 4,432 |
| 2009 | 4 | 3,744 |
| 2011 | 3 | 4,647 |
| 2012 | 4 | 3,987 |
| 2013 | 4 | 3,822 |
| 2018 | 3 | 4,749 |
| 2019 | 7 | 2,728 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3,848 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3,990 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,001 |
| 2023 | 5 | 3,523 |
| 2024 | 5 | 3,688 |
| 2025 | 5 | 3,684 |

## People named Imani

- Imani Hakim, American actress
- Imani Coppola, American singer and musician
- Imani Boyette, American basketball player (born 1994)
- Imani Rose, American pornographic actress

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.