The name Kai or Cai /ˈk/ has various origins and meanings in different cultures:

  • In Estonian, Kai is a female (and very rarely male) name meaning "pier" or "quay".[1][2]
  • In Persian, Kai, or Kay, is a male name, meaning "king". It is also the name of a mythological shah (king) in the Shahnameh.
  • In Japanese, kai has a number of meanings, including "ocean" (海), "shell" (貝), "open" (開), "restoration" and "recovery".[3][4]
  • In Māori, kai is not a name, but it means "food" or "meal".[5]
  • In Northern Ireland, data indicated that Kai experienced a significant rise in popularity as a male given name from 2002 to 2003.[6]
  • Kai was among the five most popular names for newborn boys of Asian descent in the American state of Virginia in 2022.[7]
Kai
Pronunciation/ˈk/
GenderUnisex
Origin
Word/namevarious
Meaningvarious
Other names
Related namesCai, Kaj

Notable people with the given name "Kai" include edit

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  • Kai Ueda (born 1996), Japanese baseball player

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  • Xing Kai (born 1989), Chinese footballer
  • Xu Kai (born 1995), Chinese actor

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Fictional characters edit

Notable people with the surname "Kai" include edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "English-Estonian MT dictionary". Institute of the Estonian Language. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  2. ^ "Nimede statistika" [Statistics of Names] (in Estonian). Statistics Estonia. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  3. ^ "English<>Japanese". Dictionary. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  4. ^ "Official list of Kanji permissible for name use". Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  5. ^ "kai". Māori Dictionary. John C Moorfield.
  6. ^ "Jack and Emma were the most popular first names in Northern Ireland in 2003" (PDF) (Press release). Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 2004-01-02. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-29. Retrieved 2008-02-14. Kai has risen from rank 156 in 2002 to rank 94 in 2003....
  7. ^ "Virginia Department of Health's Office of Vital Records Announces Top Fifteen Baby Names of 2022, Other Interesting Virginia Birth Data" (Press release).