Makai

What Makai means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Makai yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #481 vs #1,538 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Makai?

US: Rising: up from #681 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #1786 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 626 boys got the name (#481 that year). First in the US records in 1989.

How common

• About 1 in 2,729 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 15,996 baby boys in England and Wales 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 (2.06 per 1,000 boys), MS (1.11 per 1,000 boys), AL (1.02 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Makai is #481 in the US and #1538 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Makai were boys.

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

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Makoa191 US · 5 E&W
• Mikah107 US
• Mika34 US · 12 E&W
• Mako40 US · 3 E&W
• Mykah36 US
• Mahkai31 US
• Mikai22 US
• Myka20 US

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 Makai

Boys

• Elijah#7“Yahweh is my god”^*
• Malachi#134“my messenger”^*
• Noah#2Editor’s note Steady in the US: #1 in 2015 and #2 in 2025. About 1 in 84 US boys in the 2025 records
• Carter#45“son of Arthur”^*
• Amari#185“Does the given name have different origins?”^*
• Maddox#209Editor’s note Down from #148 in 2015 to #209 in 2025 in the US

For a sister

• Nyla#236Editor’s note Up from #326 in 2015 to #236 in 2025 in the US
• Rylee#137Variant of Riley, meaning “rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Emerson#122Editor’s note Used for both: 62% of US babies named Emerson in 2025 were girls
• Brynlee#243Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1995, with 5 babies
• Riley#48“rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Makai’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.