Kai
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About Kai
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.
Kai for boys#93 US
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.
Kai for girls#1054 US
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.
Pronounced KY.
As of October 2026, Kai ranked #93 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #59 in 2022, Nameberry popularity #53.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #177 | 2,411 | #989 | 270 |
| 2015 | #145 | 2,852 | #888 | 311 |
| 2016 | #145 | 2,895 | #879 | 320 |
| 2017 | #126 | 3,155 | #809 | 338 |
| 2018 | #112 | 3,462 | #854 | 318 |
| 2019 | #100 | 3,741 | #809 | 338 |
| 2020 | #93 | 3,863 | #792 | 344 |
| 2021 | #70 | 4,638 | #769 | 371 |
| 2022 | #59 | 5,366 | #791 | 358 |
| 2023 | #61 | 4,967 | #940 | 282 |
| 2024 | #76 | 4,276 | #1,133 | 213 |
| 2025 | #93 | 3,768 | #1,054 | 234 |
World rankings
Kai for boys
Kai for girls
Similar names
These 40 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Kai.
Similar boy names
Similar girl names
Kai on lists
Famous Kais
- Kai RyssdalBoy
American radio journalist
- Kai LennoxBoy
American actor
- KaiBoy
stage name of Kim Jongin; dancer, singer, and rapper of South Korean boy band EXO
- Kai Kamal HueningBoy
birth name of Hueningkai; rapper, dancer, and singer of South Korean boy group TXT
- Kai WindingBoy
American jazz musician
- Kai ForbathBoy
American football player
- Kai OwenBoy
Welsh actor
- Kai AlexanderBoy
American actor
- Kai CasterBoy
American actor
- Kai HaaskiviBoy
Finnish footballer
- Kai BirdBoy
American Pulitzer Prize winning author
- Kai KazmirekBoy
German Olympic decathlon athlete
- Kai ReusBoy
Dutch professional cyclist
- Kai HavertzBoy
German footballer
- Kai SiegbahnBoy
Swedish Nobel prize winning physicist
- Kai WelchBoy
American musician
- Kai WachiBoy
musician and producer
- Kai HerdlingBoy
professional soccer player MLS
- Kai HillebrandBoy
actor, model, and professional skateboarder
- Kai NacuaBoy
NFL player
- Kai ChapmanBoy
American actor
- Kai PflaumBoy
German TV personality and game show host
- Kai HeeringsBoy
German professional footballer
- Kai MathesdorfBoy
German DJ and musician
- Kai OswaldBoy
German footballer who played in the Bundesliga for several clubs including Stuttgart
- Kai KarraBoy
France , New Zealand born MMA fighter
- Kai AsakuraBoy
Japanese MMA fighter
- Kai Harvey (b. 1996)Boy
son of actress Danniella Westbrook and Brian Harvey
- Kai Dugan (b. 1997)Boy
son of actress Jennifer Connolly and David Dugan
- Kai Bowers (b. 1997)Boy
son of singer Dane Bowers of Another Level
- Kai Rochester (b. 2000)Boy
son of Australian TV personality Ajay Rochester
- Kai Miles Land (b. 2001)Boy
son of actors Sharon Leal and Bev Land
- Kai Harper Steines (b. 2003)Boy
son of TV personality Mark Steines and Miss America Leanza Cornett
- Kai Silver (b. 2005)Boy
son of actress Kerri Kenney,Silver
- Kai David Singh Stenson (b. 2009)Boy
son of actress Parminder Nagra and James Stenson
- Kai Wayne Rooney (b. 2009)Boy
son of footballer Wayne Rooney
- Kai RobbenBoy
son of Footballer Arjen Robben
- Kai Kaplan (b. 2009)Boy
son of TV personality Derek Kaplan of "Million Dollar Listing"
- Kai Rei Goldin (b. 2010)Boy
son of actor Ricky Paull Goldin
- Kai Allen (b. 2012)Boy
son of basketball player Lavoy Allen
- Kai Turok (b. 2012)Boy
son of ice dancer Shae,Lynn Bourne and Bohadan Turok
- Kai Kompany (b. 2013)Boy
son of footballer Vincent Kompany
- Kai Horowitz (b. 2014)Boy
son of actress Brittany Ishibashi and Jeff Horowitz
- Kai Yunda (b. 2016)Boy
son of TV personality Melody Mitchell and Lalo Yunda of "Black Ink Crew"
- Samuel Kai Schreiber (b. 2008)Boy
son of actors Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts
- Kai Lopes (b. 2018)Boy
son of Portuguese football player Eder Lopes and Belgium model Sanna Lopes (Ladera)
- Kaito (Kai)Boy
Prince in the fantasy series The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
- Kai CenatBoy
American livestreamer
Kai in pop culture
- Kai or KayBoy
brother of King Arthur
- Kai or KayBoy
character in "The Snow Queen," by Hans Christian Andersen
- Kai AsheBoy
character on TV's NCIS: Red
- KaiBoy
Red Ninja from "Ninjago"
- Kai Fisher (Kairan)Boy
Chronicles of Syntax
- KaiBoy
character in the video game Ape Escape 3
- Prince Kai (Kaito)Boy
character in the Lunar Chronicles book series
- KaiBoy
character in animated series The Legend of Korra
- Malachai "Kai" ParkerBoy
character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
- King KaiBoy
character in Dragon Ball Z
- Kai MirokuBoy
tailor and the person who started the Great Fire of Enbizaka in the Evillious Chronicles.
- KaiBoy
a character in the manga 'Afterschool Charisma'
- KaiBoy
captain of the Bladebreakers in the Japanese manga, "Beyblade"
- Kai ProctorBoy
character on TV show Banshee
- Kai AndersonBoy
character on TV show American Horror Story
- Prince Kai von GrannzreichBoy
character in anime/manga "The Royal Tutor"
- KaiBoy
character in Aphmau's YouTube series
- KaiBoy
character in the anime "Blood+"
- KaiBoy
character in the video game franchise "Harvest Moon"
- KairosBoth
from the Greek word meaning "the defining moment" or "the opportune moment"
- KaiBoy
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 UrduBoy
short for Kainat
- Kai IslandsBoy
Indonesia
- Kai AzerBoy
character in the Powerless trilogy by Lauren Roberts
- Kai Madison TrumpGirl
granddaughter of U.S. President Donald Trump