Kai Boy
How popular is Kai?
#93 boy name in 2025
3,768 baby boys were named Kai in the US in 2025, making it the 93rd most popular boy name. Another 234 girls got the name (#1,053 for girls).
Kai popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #93 for boys (▼ 17 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 3,768 boys, 234 girls |
| 10-year trend | Rising (+32% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #145 in 2015, #93 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 2022 (5,374 boys) |
| Highest rank | #59 in 2022 |
| First recorded | 1926 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 93% boys, 7% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 3% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Kai counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Kai family of names ranked #98 for boys in 2025 (#86 the year before), with 3,837 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kai | 3,768 | 98% |
| Cai | 69 | 2% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Kai is most popular
Babies named Kai per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Hawaii: 13.2 per 1,000 (205 boys)
- Alaska: 6.5 per 1,000 (78 boys)
- District of Columbia: 5.8 per 1,000 (85 boys)
- Rhode Island: 4.5 per 1,000 (73 boys)
- New Mexico: 4.5 per 1,000 (147 boys)
Kai by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 6 | #3,706 |
| 1930s | 6 | #3,360 |
| 1940s | 10 | #3,429 |
| 1950s | 148 | #1,558 |
| 1960s | 341 | #1,083 |
| 1970s | 592 | #945 |
| 1980s | 958 | #845 |
| 1990s | 2,640 | #478 |
| 2000s | 12,620 | #213 |
| 2010s | 25,984 | #100 |
| 2020s | 26,927 | #59 |
Boy names about as popular as Kai
Questions
- Is Kai a boy or girl name?
- Kai is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 93% of babies named Kai were boys.
- How popular is the name Kai?
- 3,768 baby boys were named Kai in the US in 2025, making it the 93rd most popular boy name. Another 234 girls got the name (#1,053 for girls).
- When was Kai most popular?
- Kai peaked in 2022, when 5,374 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #59 in 2022.
- How many people are named Kai?
- 78,710 babies have been named Kai in the US since 1880. We estimate about 77,879 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 9.
- Where is Kai most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Kai was most common in Hawaii, at 13.2 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.