Primarily a boy's name · Unisex — 11% girls / 89% boys
Origin: GermanThe name Kai has various origins and meanings in different cultures: In Estonian, Kai is a female name derived from Katherine. In Persian, Kai, or Kay, is a male name, meaning "king". It is also the name of a mythological shah in the Shahnameh.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Kai yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Kai's count and rank peaked together in 2022 — 5,366 births and #59 nationally — before easing to 4,276 and #76 by 2024, a 77% rise over the full decade despite that recent pullback.
The enrichment data attributes a German origin to the name, a less obvious root than the Hawaiian or East Asian associations it's often assumed to carry, and its data history starts in 1926, later than most established names but well before its recent popularity.
Physicist Kai Siegbahn and footballer Kai Havertz anchor the name in science and sport respectively, two fields with little else in common beyond sharing this one short name.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Kai · Compare Kai with another name → · Popular names of the 2020s · Boys names starting with K
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 | 6 | #3,959 |
| 1932 | 6 | #3,571 |
| 1944 | 5 | #3,679 |
| 1949 | 5 | #3,971 |
| 1950 | 9 | #2,671 |
| 1951 | 14 | #2,099 |
| 1952 | 5 | #4,001 |
| 1953 | 10 | #2,621 |
| 1954 | 14 | #2,162 |
| 1955 | 22 | #1,662 |
| 1956 | 12 | #2,436 |
| 1957 | 16 | #2,056 |
| 1958 | 20 | #1,808 |
| 1959 | 26 | #1,570 |
| 1960 | 20 | #1,842 |
| 1961 | 23 | #1,717 |
| 1962 | 29 | #1,464 |
| 1963 | 35 | #1,332 |
| 1964 | 32 | #1,397 |
| 1965 | 33 | #1,347 |
| 1966 | 36 | #1,271 |
| 1967 | 40 | #1,190 |
| 1968 | 47 | #1,094 |
| 1969 | 46 | #1,159 |
| 1970 | 58 | #1,075 |
| 1971 | 40 | #1,340 |
| 1972 | 53 | #1,123 |
| 1973 | 53 | #1,132 |
| 1974 | 50 | #1,173 |
| 1975 | 58 | #1,109 |
| 1976 | 54 | #1,172 |
| 1977 | 66 | #1,065 |
| 1978 | 74 | #1,009 |
| 1979 | 87 | #950 |
| 1980 | 83 | #994 |
| 1981 | 89 | #958 |
| 1982 | 95 | #920 |
| 1983 | 75 | #1,026 |
| 1984 | 85 | #964 |
| 1985 | 99 | #915 |
| 1986 | 96 | #935 |
| 1987 | 105 | #925 |
| 1988 | 93 | #1,016 |
| 1989 | 140 | #850 |
| 1990 | 124 | #928 |
| 1991 | 155 | #831 |
| 1992 | 159 | #837 |
| 1993 | 182 | #784 |
| 1994 | 215 | #714 |
| 1995 | 357 | #535 |
| 1996 | 297 | #598 |
| 1997 | 322 | #576 |
| 1998 | 363 | #548 |
| 1999 | 465 | #478 |
| 2000 | 622 | #403 |
| 2001 | 718 | #370 |
| 2002 | 1,108 | #276 |
| 2003 | 1,217 | #264 |
| 2004 | 1,324 | #249 |
| 2005 | 1,413 | #239 |
| 2006 | 1,451 | #238 |
| 2007 | 1,399 | #252 |
| 2008 | 1,609 | #229 |
| 2009 | 1,759 | #213 |
| 2010 | 1,749 | #205 |
| 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 | 3,155 | #126 |
| 2018 | 3,462 | #112 |
| 2019 | 3,741 | #100 |
| 2020 | 3,863 | #93 |
| 2021 | 4,638 | #70 |
| 2022 | 5,366 | #59 |
| 2023 | 4,967 | #61 |
| 2024 | 4,276 | #76 |
