Given name
Melaina
“a dark-skinned beauty”
Melaina is a variant of Melanie. One Greek interpretation is “a dark-skinned beauty.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Melaina is a variant of Melanie. One Greek interpretation is “a dark-skinned beauty.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Melaina is a variant of Melanie. Melanie has been associated with Old French, Latin, and Greek naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1964. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Melaina through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,197
- 0 boys · 1,197 girls
- Most popular year
- 2004
- 78 babies
- 2025
- 9
- #10,626 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −54%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 10,626 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 53.6% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 78 in 2004. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,076 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Melaina’s family of names
Melaina has a related form in Melanie. In English usage, Melaina has a conventional equivalent in the German form Melanie.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.