The name Kai is a girl's name of Scandinavian, Japanese, Hawaiian origin meaning "sea".

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This appealing multi-cultural name, pronounced KYE, is beginning to be used for girls as well as boys. Among its many derivations and meanings: "sea" in Hawaiian, "forgiveness" in Japanese, "willow tree" in Navajo, "food" in Maori, and "earth" in Scandinavian. For girls, it debuted on the US Top 1000 in 2010.

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The name Kai is currently ranked #940 in U.S. births. and peaked for girls at #769 in 2021. It is currently rising in popularity. The name is most popular in KAI, KAI, and KAI. Kai is also used for boys, ranking #93 in 2025 (more popular).

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

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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.

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The name Kai is currently ranked #93 in U.S. births. and peaked for boys at #59 in 2022. The name is most popular in KAI, KAI, and KAI. Kai is occasionally used for girls in 2025.

Year	US rank	Births	Per million
2014	#989	270	151.1
2015	#888	311	174.2
2016	#879	320	180.6
2017	#809	338	195.8
2018	#854	318	186.9
2019	#809	338	201.4
2020	#792	344	212.8
2021	#769	371	226.1
2022	#791	358	218.3
2023	#940	282	175.7
2024	#1,133	213	131.5
2025	#1,054	234	145.6

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