first name
KAI
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 53,204 people named Kai, 34.5% reported their origin as White, 19.5% as two or more races and 16.1% as Black. 86.3% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Kai peaked in 2022, when 5,732 babies got the name.
At least 78,710 babies have been given the name since 1926. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Kai by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #111. The largest share of babies named Kai, 65.3%, were born in 2013 or later.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Kai is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kai has been most common in Hawaii (5×), Nevada (3.2×), and Florida (2.3×), and least common in West Virginia (0.28×).
74,206 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Kai
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Kai, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Kai ranks #20,135 of 156,621, with 1,337 people. See Kai as a last name
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🔎 KAI 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 5,677 Americans Rarer than 67.8% of us Peaked in 2022 with 5,732 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/kai/