Kai

kye

Hawaiian, Frisian, Chinese

"sea; warrior; triumph"

By Grace Royal

Updated Mon Dec 02 2024

Show me Kai as a girl's name →

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.

# 61 in the US

Kai Rank in US Top 1000

# 11 on Nameberry

Kai Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Kai Popularity

61US2023
11Nameberry2024
58Canada2023
89Future2028
72England2022
32Scotland2023
37Ireland2023
25Australia2023
230Germany2016
54Netherlands2023
91Spain2022
93Slovenia2023
97Dogs2022

20 Names Similar to Kai

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

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)

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