Given name & surname · also Melanesian, Japanese
Tani
“from the valley”·“a sweetheart”·“a young woman”
Tani is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “from the valley”, “a sweetheart”, and “a young woman”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Original Japanese谷
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “from the valley”, “a sweetheart”, and “a young woman”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Japanese.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1942. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Tani through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,014
- 10 boys · 1,004 girls
- Most popular year
- 1963
- 62 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #13,061 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 13,061 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 62 in 1963. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,121 as a first name in 2020; 930 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Tani’s family of names
Tani has a related form in Tanea. Tani has a related form in Tanny. Tani has a related form in Tanee.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 12
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Show 4 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Tani
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Tani, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Tami
Tami is a feminine given name from Japanese.
>99% girls
Jani
“God is gracious”
4% boys · 96% girls
Tango
Tango is a surname from Italian, ultimately from Japanese. It is used in English and Italian.
>99% girls
Taniko
Taniko is a feminine given name from Japanese.
>99% girls
Mimi
Mimi is used as a given name and a surname. Mimi is connected with Maria.
>99% girls
Toyota
Toyota is a surname from Japanese.
>99% girls
Lori
“crowned with laurel; from the laurel tree”
>99% girls
Tamura
Tamura is a surname from Japanese.
>99% girls