Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Kai?
Births per year, rank history and how many Kais are alive today.
Kai (male) is currently the 72nd most popular boys' name in England and Wales, with 735 babies given the name in 2024. This spelling of the name peaked in 2010, when 1,308 babies were given the name, the 56th most popular that year. Its fortunes dipped to rank 109 in 2019 before climbing back to the 72nd place it holds today. Numbers have been rising in recent years. At least 24,000 babies have been named Kai in England and Wales since 1996. Kai is one spelling of a name also recorded as Cai and Kye; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Kai you are most likely to meet is around 19 years old. Half of all Kais born in England and Wales are between 12 and 23, and there are at least 33,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 10% chance that at least one of them will be called Kai.
How many babies are named Kai each year?
Includes all spellings: Kai, Cai, Kye. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Kai spelling rank?
Where does the Cai spelling rank?
Where does the Kye spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Kai most popular?
Kai peaked in 2006, when 1,658 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Kai?
At least 33,000 people named Kai in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Kai?
Most living Kais are between 12 and 23; the most common age is about 19.
Is Kai becoming more or less popular?
Recovering: it has climbed back after a dip in the rankings.