Kai

kye
Hawaiian, Frisian, Chinese
"sea; warrior; triumph"

Kai Origin and Meaning

The name Kai is a boy's name of Hawaiian origin meaning "sea; warrior; triumph".

Kai is an internationally flexible name with many possible origins and meanings, growing in popularity in the US and a diverse range of European countries.

In the US, the name Kai is most commonly referred to as being of Hawaiian derivation, meaning "sea." In Europe, Kai is largely considered to have Frisian origin as a diminutive of the name Kaimbe, meaning "warrior", or as a short form of Gerard "brave spear".

Kai is also found as an independent name in African, Chinese, Turkish and Native American cultures. Kai is a strong, evocative multi-cultural name that packs a lot of power in its single syllable.

Famous as the name of the boy enchanted by the fairy-tale Snow Queen, Kai was chosen for her son by actress Jennifer Connelly and as a middle name for son Samuel by Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber.

Kai is popular with Berries as both a first and middle name choice. Perhaps because of its international familiarity, Kai is popular in video games. Its most prominent namesake is Danish-born jazz trombonist Kai Winding.

Kai ranks in the US Top 1000 for girls, but is used more than 90 percent of the time for boys. Donald Trump, Jr. has a daughter named Kai Madison and Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik named their daughter Khai in 2020.

# 61 in the US

Kai Rank in US Top 1000

# 11 on Nameberry

Kai Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Kai Popularity

Famous People Named Kai

  • Kai Ryssdal
    American radio journalist
  • Kai Lennox
    American actor
  • Kai
    stage name of Kim Jongin; dancer, singer, and rapper of South Korean boy band EXO
  • Kai Kamal Huening
    birth name of Hueningkai; rapper, dancer, and singer of South Korean boy group TXT
  • Kai Winding
    American jazz musician
  • Kai Forbath
    American football player
  • Kai Owen
    Welsh actor
  • Kai Alexander
    American actor
  • Kai Caster
    American actor
  • Kai Haaskivi
    Finnish footballer
  • Kai Bird
    American Pulitzer Prize winning author
  • Kai Kazmirek
    German Olympic decathlon athlete
  • Kai Reus
    Dutch professional cyclist
  • Kai Havertz
    German footballer
  • Kai Siegbahn
    Swedish Nobel prize winning physicist
  • Kai Welch
    American musician
  • Kai Wachi
    musician and producer
  • Kai Herdling
    professional soccer player MLS
  • Kai Hillebrand
    actor, model, and professional skateboarder
  • Kai Nacua
    NFL player
  • Kai Chapman
    American actor
  • Kai Pflaum
    German TV personality and game show host
  • Kai Heerings
    German professional footballer
  • Kai Mathesdorf
    German DJ and musician
  • Kai Oswald
    German footballer who played in the Bundesliga for several clubs including Stuttgart
  • Kai Karra
    France , New Zealand born MMA fighter
  • Kai Asakura
    Japanese MMA fighter
  • Kai Harvey (b. 1996)
    son of actress Danniella Westbrook and Brian Harvey
  • Kai Dugan (b. 1997)
    son of actress Jennifer Connolly and David Dugan
  • Kai Bowers (b. 1997)
    son of singer Dane Bowers of Another Level
  • Kai Rochester (b. 2000)
    son of Australian TV personality Ajay Rochester
  • Kai Miles Land (b. 2001)
    son of actors Sharon Leal and Bev Land
  • Kai Harper Steines (b. 2003)
    son of TV personality Mark Steines and Miss America Leanza Cornett
  • Kai Silver (b. 2005)
    son of actress Kerri Kenney,Silver
  • Kai David Singh Stenson (b. 2009)
    son of actress Parminder Nagra and James Stenson
  • Kai Wayne Rooney (b. 2009)
    son of footballer Wayne Rooney
  • Kai Robben
    son of Footballer Arjen Robben
  • Kai Kaplan (b. 2009)
    son of TV personality Derek Kaplan of "Million Dollar Listing"
  • Kai Rei Goldin (b. 2010)
    son of actor Ricky Paull Goldin
  • Kai Allen (b. 2012)
    son of basketball player Lavoy Allen
  • Kai Turok (b. 2012)
    son of ice dancer Shae,Lynn Bourne and Bohadan Turok
  • Kai Kompany (b. 2013)
    son of footballer Vincent Kompany
  • Kai Horowitz (b. 2014)
    son of actress Brittany Ishibashi and Jeff Horowitz
  • Kai Yunda (b. 2016)
    son of TV personality Melody Mitchell and Lalo Yunda of "Black Ink Crew"
  • Samuel Kai Schreiber (b. 2008)
    son of actors Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts
  • Kai Lopes (b. 2018)
    son of Portuguese football player Eder Lopes and Belgium model Sanna Lopes (Ladera)

Kai in Pop Culture

  • Kai or Kay
    brother of King Arthur
  • Kai or Kay
    character in "The Snow Queen," by Hans Christian Andersen
  • Kai Ashe
    character on TV's NCIS: Red
  • Kai
    Red Ninja from "Ninjago"
  • Kai Fisher (Kairan)
    Chronicles of Syntax
  • Kai
    character in the video game Ape Escape 3
  • Prince Kai (Kaito)
    character in the Lunar Chronicles book series
  • Kai
    character in animated series The Legend of Korra
  • Malachai "Kai" Parker
    character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
  • King Kai
    character in Dragon Ball Z
  • Kai Miroku
    tailor and the person who started the Great Fire of Enbizaka in the Evillious Chronicles.
  • Kai
    a character in the manga 'Afterschool Charisma'
  • Kai
    captain of the Bladebreakers in the Japanese manga, "Beyblade"
  • Kai Proctor
    character on TV show Banshee
  • Kai Anderson
    character on TV show American Horror Story
  • Prince Kai von Grannzreich
    character in anime/manga "The Royal Tutor"
  • Kai
    character in Aphmau's YouTube series
  • Kai
    character in the anime "Blood+"
  • Kai
    character in the video game franchise "Harvest Moon"
  • Kairos
    from the Greek word meaning "the defining moment" or "the opportune moment"
  • Kai
    a Basque word meaning "pier of a harbor";
  • Means "strong" in Burmese; "triumph" in Chinese; "pier" in Estonian; "probably" in Finnish; "ocean" or "ocean water" in Hawaiian; "ocean" or "shell" or "recovery" or "restoration" in Japanese; "food" in Maori; "willow tree" in Navajo; "keeper of the keys" in Nordic languages; "loveable" in Swahili; "universe" in Urdu
    short for Kainat
  • Kai Islands
    Indonesia