Kai

What Kai means

Means “warrior”

The German Kai may also derive from a West Frisian pet form of Gerard, Cornelius, Nicholas, or Kampe "warrior".

Source: Wiktionary, “Kai” (revision 93952111), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Kai?

US: Rising: up from #145 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #86 in 2015, #78 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2022, when 5,374 boys got the name (#59 that year). First in the US records in 1926.

How common

• About 1 in 453 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 405 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 194 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in HI (10.28 per 1,000 boys), RI (4.16 per 1,000 boys), NM (4.0 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Kai is #93 in the US and #78 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 94.2% of US babies named Kai were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Koa1,281 US · 259 E&W
• Koah260 US · 51 E&W
• Cai69 US · 52 E&W
• Koe104 US
• Koi40 US
• Ky31 US
• Koy18 US
• Kei14 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Kai

Boys

• Bruno#740“brown”^*
• Axel#79Editor’s note Up from #123 in 2015 to #79 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 410 US boys in the 2025 records
• Milo#119Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #288 in 2015, #119 in 2025
• Emory#883Editor’s note Down from #830 in 2015 to #883 in 2025 in the US
• Henry#5Editor’s note Up from #29 in 2015 to #5 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 140 US boys in the 2025 records
• Oliver#3Editor’s note Up from #19 in 2015 to #3 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 110 US boys in the 2025 records

For a sister

• Adeline#59Form of Adela, meaning “noble”^*
• Evelyn#8Same root as Eileen, possibly meaning “radiance, beauty”^*
• Emory#339Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #339 vs #3,705 in 2025
• Alina#130Editor’s note Up from #173 in 2015 to #130 in 2025 in the US
• Matilda#364Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #19 vs #364 in 2025
• Adelaide#289“noble + nature, character”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Germanic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Kai’s. Rank is US 2025.