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Boy's name · #93 in the US (2025) · 2020s wave
94% boys · 6% girls — Kai is also given to girls: 234 in 2025, about 1 in 17 in recent years. Kai →
Kai reached its best rank, #59, in 2022 and ranked #93 in 2025, with roughly 70,000 boys recorded since 1926.
Footballer Wayne Rooney and Coleen Rooney chose the name for their son, born in 2009.
See where Kai is more common.
Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 50 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.
See how Kai ranks in other countries and regions.
#23 in Australia (NSW) (2025) · #25 in Australia (QLD) (2025) · #32 in Australia (VIC) (2025) · #34 in Ireland (2025) · #39 in Netherlands (2025) · #40 in Scotland (2025) · #41 in Finland (other-lang.) (2025) · #46 in N. Ireland (2025) · #77 in Slovenia (2025) · #78 in England & Wales (2025) · #82 in Puerto Rico (2025) · #92 in Spain (2024) and 10 more.
Among 2,002 notable people named Kai:
Medical professionals appear 1.96× more often than among typical names — e.g. Kai Simons, Finnish physician (MD, PhD), biochemist and molecular biologist.
Similar names: Lincoln · Cash · Isaiah · Keanu · Kade · Makai
Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.