Kai

kye

Hawaiian, Frisian, Chinese

"sea; warrior; triumph"

Kai Origin and Meaning

The name Kai is a boy's name of Hawaiian origin meaning "sea; warrior; triumph".

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.

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 Rank in US Top 1000

# 61 in the US

Kai Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 30 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Kai

• 61 US 2023
• 30 Nameberry 2025
• 58 Canada 2023
• 42 Future 2035
• 74 England 2023
• 57 Scotland 2024
• 31 Ireland 2024
• 20 Australia 2024
• 92 New Zealand 2024
• 230 Germany 2016
• 50 Netherlands 2024
• 90 Spain 2023
• 93 Slovenia 2023
• 97 Dogs 2022

20 Names Similar to Kai

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Kai.

• Phoenix
• Nico
• Atlas
• Asher
• Luca
• Ash
• Axel
• River
• Mateo
• Maverick
• Amari
• Aspen
• Xander
• Ari
• Archer
• Ace
• Orion
• Rowan
• Koda
• Enzo

Famous People Named Kai

• Kai Ryssdal American radio journalist
• Kai Lennox American actor
• Kai stage name of Kim Jongin; dancer, singer, and rapper of South Korean boy band EXO
• Kai Kamal Huening birth name of Hueningkai; rapper, dancer, and singer of South Korean boy group TXT
• Kai Winding American jazz musician
• Kai Forbath American football player
• Kai Owen Welsh actor
• Kai Alexander American actor
• Kai Caster American actor
• Kai Haaskivi Finnish footballer
• Kai Bird American Pulitzer Prize winning author
• Kai Kazmirek German Olympic decathlon athlete
• Kai Reus Dutch professional cyclist
• Kai Havertz German footballer
• Kai Siegbahn Swedish Nobel prize winning physicist
• Kai Welch American musician
• Kai Wachi musician and producer
• Kai Herdling professional soccer player MLS
• Kai Hillebrand actor, model, and professional skateboarder
• Kai Nacua NFL player
• Kai Chapman American actor
• Kai Pflaum German TV personality and game show host
• Kai Heerings German professional footballer
• Kai Mathesdorf German DJ and musician
• Kai Oswald German footballer who played in the Bundesliga for several clubs including Stuttgart
• Kai Karra France , New Zealand born MMA fighter
• Kai Asakura Japanese MMA fighter
• Kai Harvey (b. 1996) son of actress Danniella Westbrook and Brian Harvey
• Kai Dugan (b. 1997) son of actress Jennifer Connolly and David Dugan
• Kai Bowers (b. 1997) son of singer Dane Bowers of Another Level
• Kai Rochester (b. 2000) son of Australian TV personality Ajay Rochester
• Kai Miles Land (b. 2001) son of actors Sharon Leal and Bev Land
• Kai Harper Steines (b. 2003) son of TV personality Mark Steines and Miss America Leanza Cornett
• Kai Silver (b. 2005) son of actress Kerri Kenney,Silver
• Kai David Singh Stenson (b. 2009) son of actress Parminder Nagra and James Stenson
• Kai Wayne Rooney (b. 2009) son of footballer Wayne Rooney
• Kai Robben son of Footballer Arjen Robben
• Kai Kaplan (b. 2009) son of TV personality Derek Kaplan of "Million Dollar Listing"
• Kai Rei Goldin (b. 2010) son of actor Ricky Paull Goldin
• Kai Allen (b. 2012) son of basketball player Lavoy Allen
• Kai Turok (b. 2012) son of ice dancer Shae,Lynn Bourne and Bohadan Turok
• Kai Kompany (b. 2013) son of footballer Vincent Kompany
• Kai Horowitz (b. 2014) son of actress Brittany Ishibashi and Jeff Horowitz
• Kai Yunda (b. 2016) son of TV personality Melody Mitchell and Lalo Yunda of "Black Ink Crew"
• Samuel Kai Schreiber (b. 2008) son of actors Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts
• Kai Lopes (b. 2018) son of Portuguese football player Eder Lopes and Belgium model Sanna Lopes (Ladera)

The name Kai in Pop Culture

• Kai or Kay brother of King Arthur
• Kai or Kay character in "The Snow Queen," by Hans Christian Andersen
• Kai Ashe character on TV's NCIS: Red
• Kai Red Ninja from "Ninjago"
• Kai Fisher (Kairan) Chronicles of Syntax
• Kai character in the video game Ape Escape 3
• Prince Kai (Kaito) character in the Lunar Chronicles book series
• Kai character in animated series The Legend of Korra
• Malachai "Kai" Parker character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
• King Kai character in Dragon Ball Z
• Kai Miroku tailor and the person who started the Great Fire of Enbizaka in the Evillious Chronicles.
• Kai a character in the manga 'Afterschool Charisma'
• Kai captain of the Bladebreakers in the Japanese manga, "Beyblade"
• Kai Proctor character on TV show Banshee
• Kai Anderson character on TV show American Horror Story
• Prince Kai von Grannzreich character in anime/manga "The Royal Tutor"
• Kai character in Aphmau's YouTube series
• Kai character in the anime "Blood+"
• Kai character in the video game franchise "Harvest Moon"
• Kairos from the Greek word meaning "the defining moment" or "the opportune moment"
• Kai 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 Urdu short for Kainat
• Kai Islands Indonesia
• Kai Azer character in the Powerless trilogy by Lauren Roberts

International Variations of the name Kai

• Kája Czech
• Kájin Czech