# Kai (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kai/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “warrior”, “sea” |
| Pronunciation | /kaɪ/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 78,710 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 70,232 / 8,478 (11% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 25,329, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Taken into regular use in the 1990s, with earlier popularity peaks in Scandinavia and Germany. The medieval Danish Kaj is possibly of Roman origin, Latinized as Caius, like the rare medieval English male given name Kay. The German Kai may also derive from a West Frisian pet form of Gerard, Cornelius, Nicholas, or Kampe "warrior". In the U.S. Kai has also been explained as Hawaiian kai (“sea”).

## What it means

Kai is grouped under sea and warrior.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 294 | 889 |
| 2012 | 281 | 919 |
| 2013 | 282 | 906 |
| 2014 | 270 | 989 |
| 2015 | 311 | 888 |
| 2016 | 320 | 879 |
| 2017 | 338 | 809 |
| 2018 | 318 | 854 |
| 2019 | 338 | 809 |
| 2020 | 344 | 793 |
| 2021 | 371 | 770 |
| 2022 | 358 | 791 |
| 2023 | 282 | 940 |
| 2024 | 214 | 1,132 |
| 2025 | 234 | 1,054 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,790 | 202 |
| 2012 | 1,938 | 197 |
| 2013 | 1,983 | 199 |
| 2014 | 2,411 | 177 |
| 2015 | 2,852 | 145 |
| 2016 | 2,895 | 145 |
| 2017 | 3,158 | 126 |
| 2018 | 3,463 | 112 |
| 2019 | 3,744 | 100 |
| 2020 | 3,867 | 93 |
| 2021 | 4,641 | 70 |
| 2022 | 5,374 | 59 |
| 2023 | 4,976 | 61 |
| 2024 | 4,301 | 76 |
| 2025 | 3,768 | 93 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 6 | 3,397 |
| 2009 | 10 | 2,326 |
| 2010 | 3 | 5,707 |
| 2011 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2012 | 7 | 3,285 |
| 2013 | 5 | 4,050 |
| 2016 | 7 | 3,214 |
| 2018 | 4 | 4,684 |
| 2019 | 4 | 4,686 |
| 2020 | 7 | 3,117 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,961 |
| 2022 | 7 | 3,148 |
| 2023 | 5 | 4,056 |
| 2024 | 4 | 4,843 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,867 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,211 | 56 |
| 2012 | 1,075 | 63 |
| 2013 | 1,002 | 64 |
| 2014 | 858 | 77 |
| 2015 | 775 | 86 |
| 2016 | 794 | 87 |
| 2017 | 691 | 93 |
| 2018 | 634 | 100 |
| 2019 | 569 | 109 |
| 2020 | 579 | 103 |
| 2021 | 639 | 91 |
| 2022 | 799 | 72 |
| 2023 | 693 | 74 |
| 2024 | 735 | 72 |
| 2025 | 672 | 78 |

## People named Kai

- Kai Havertz, German association football player (born 1999)
- Kai Hansen, German guitarist and singer
- Zou Kai, Chinese artistic gymnast
- Kai Cenat, American internet personality and online streamer (born 2001)
- Liang Kai, Chinese artist
- Kai Winding, Danish-born American jazz composer and trombonist
- Kai Häfner, German handball player
- Kai Trump, American social media personality and granddaughter of Donald Trump (born 2007)
- Ma Kai, Chinese politician
- Kai Trewin, Australian soccer player (born 2001)
- Kai Verbij, Dutch speed skater
- Kai Hahto, Finnish musician

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.