Kai
#1,053 for girls in 2025, 234 births · #93 for boys in 2025, 3,768 births
Given to boys 89.2% of the time
- Peak · boys
- 2022 · 5,374 births
- Debut · boys
- 6 births
- In top 100 · boys
- 7 yrsof 146 years
- Total births · boys
- 70,232since 1926
Kai over time
Rank within each sex, plotted together. Click any year to open it.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | #1,053 | 234 | #93 | 3,768 |
| 2024 | #1,128 | 214 | #76 | 4,301 |
| 2023 | #940 | 282 | #61 | 4,976 |
| 2022 | #789 | 358 | #59 | 5,374 |
| 2021 | #768 | 371 | #70 | 4,641 |
| 2020 | #791 | 344 | #93 | 3,867 |
| 2019 | #809 | 338 | #100 | 3,744 |
| 2018 | #853 | 318 | #112 | 3,463 |
| 2017 | #808 | 338 | #126 | 3,158 |
| 2016 | #876 | 320 | #145 | 2,895 |
| 2015 | #888 | 311 | #145 | 2,852 |
| 2014 | #989 | 270 | #177 | 2,411 |
| 2013 | #906 | 282 | #199 | 1,983 |
| 2012 | #917 | 281 | #197 | 1,938 |
| 2011 | #887 | 294 | #202 | 1,790 |
| 2010 | #955 | 268 | #205 | 1,750 |
| 2009 | #1,085 | 235 | #213 | 1,759 |
| 2008 | #1,104 | 234 | #229 | 1,609 |
| 2007 | #1,199 | 210 | #252 | 1,399 |
| 2006 | #1,299 | 180 | #238 | 1,451 |
| 2005 | #1,227 | 185 | #239 | 1,413 |
| 2004 | #1,302 | 164 | #248 | 1,324 |
| 2003 | #1,365 | 148 | #264 | 1,217 |
| 2002 | #1,252 | 158 | #276 | 1,108 |
| 2001 | #1,468 | 128 | #370 | 718 |
| 2000 | #1,412 | 131 | #403 | 622 |
| 1999 | #1,279 | 144 | #478 | 465 |
| 1998 | #1,366 | 126 | #548 | 363 |
| 1997 | #1,343 | 128 | #575 | 322 |
| 1996 | #1,722 | 87 | #598 | 297 |
| 1995 | #1,776 | 81 | #534 | 357 |
| 1994 | #1,688 | 88 | #710 | 216 |
| 1993 | #1,830 | 79 | #783 | 182 |
| 1992 | #2,010 | 68 | #836 | 159 |
| 1991 | #2,388 | 53 | #831 | 155 |
| 1990 | #2,402 | 51 | #926 | 124 |
| 1989 | #2,879 | 38 | #848 | 140 |
| 1988 | #2,489 | 43 | #1,013 | 93 |
| 1987 | #2,852 | 34 | #921 | 105 |
| 1986 | #3,135 | 29 | #932 | 96 |
| 1985 | #2,804 | 33 | #910 | 99 |
| 1984 | #2,050 | 49 | #960 | 85 |
| 1983 | #2,475 | 37 | #1,022 | 75 |
| 1982 | #2,414 | 40 | #920 | 94 |
| 1981 | #2,195 | 46 | #959 | 88 |
| 1980 | #1,735 | 64 | #989 | 83 |
| 1979 | #1,874 | 56 | #945 | 87 |
| 1978 | #1,598 | 67 | #1,005 | 74 |
| 1977 | #2,091 | 45 | #1,064 | 66 |
| 1976 | #2,060 | 42 | #1,163 | 54 |
| 1975 | #2,097 | 41 | #1,099 | 58 |
| 1974 | #1,961 | 43 | #1,171 | 50 |
| 1973 | #1,885 | 44 | #1,123 | 53 |
| 1972 | #1,832 | 46 | #1,129 | 52 |
| 1971 | #2,874 | 24 | #1,330 | 40 |
| 1970 | #3,110 | 21 | #1,070 | 58 |
| 1969 | #6,617 | 6 | #1,152 | 46 |
| 1968 | #3,789 | 13 | #1,083 | 47 |
| 1967 | #3,484 | 14 | #1,181 | 40 |
| 1966 | #4,198 | 10 | #1,259 | 36 |
| 1965 | #3,264 | 15 | #1,335 | 33 |
| 1964 | #6,009 | 6 | #1,384 | 32 |
| 1963 | #4,896 | 8 | #1,318 | 35 |
| 1962 | #3,438 | 14 | #1,454 | 29 |
| 1961 | #4,546 | 9 | #1,686 | 23 |
| 1960 | #5,168 | 7 | #1,812 | 20 |
| 1959 | #5,031 | 7 | #1,559 | 26 |
| 1958 | #4,193 | 9 | #1,766 | 20 |
| 1957 | #3,489 | 12 | #2,019 | 16 |
| 1956 | — | #2,361 | 12 | |
| 1955 | — | #1,646 | 22 | |
| 1954 | — | #2,114 | 14 | |
| 1953 | #5,673 | 5 | #2,531 | 10 |
| 1952 | — | #3,734 | 5 | |
| 1951 | — | #2,055 | 14 | |
| 1950 | — | #2,580 | 9 | |
| 1949 | — | #3,690 | 5 | |
| 1948 | — | — | ||
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| 1946 | — | — | ||
| 1945 | — | — | ||
| 1944 | — | #3,430 | 5 | |
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| 1932 | — | #3,361 | 6 | |
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| 1926 | — | #3,708 | 6 | |
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| 1880 | — | — | ||
The first year at least five boys were named Kai! It came in at #3,708, and was given to 6 baby boys.
Quietest stretch: 1927–1931, when fewer than 5 boys a year got the name.
Where Kai is popular in 1990
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- Hawaii#170 · 1 in 801
- Minnesota#371 · 1 in 5,287
- Wisconsin#490 · 1 in 6,658
- New York#744 · 1 in 9,917
- California#778 · 1 in 12,095
Best ever in a state: #2 in Hawaii, 2021.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | #170 | 9 | 1 in 801 |
| Minnesota | #371 | 6 | 1 in 5,287 |
| Wisconsin | #490 | 5 | 1 in 6,658 |
| New York | #744 | 14 | 1 in 9,917 |
| California | #778 | 24 | 1 in 12,095 |
| Michigan | #796 | 5 | 1 in 14,202 |
| Illinois | #843 | 7 | 1 in 12,746 |
| Florida | #1,050 | 5 | 1 in 18,342 |
| Alabama | — | — | — |
| Alaska | — | — | — |
| Arizona | — | — | — |
| Arkansas | — | — | — |
| Colorado | — | — | — |
| Connecticut | — | — | — |
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| District of Columbia | — | — | — |
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| West Virginia | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — |
Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the boys born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about Kai
- 17 spots since 2024 (#76 → #93)
- Same as 2020 (#93)
- 52 spots since 2015 (#145 → #93)
- Biggest jump: 176 spots in 1995 (#710 → #534)
- Biggest drop: 102 spots in 1983 (#920 → #1,022)
- Debuted 1926
- Peaked 2022 at #59 (5,374 births)
- Not yet halved from its peak
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: 7 yrs · run 2019–2025
- Top 1,000: 45 yrs · run 1989–2025
- Highest: 1 in 325 boys born in 2022 were named Kai (0.31%)
- Latest: 1 in 453 boys born in 2025 (0.22%)
- 38.3% of all boys named Kai (26,927) were born in this decade
- The majority has never changed
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 6 | #3,708 (1926) | #3,708 |
| 1930s | 6 | #3,361 (1932) | #3,361 |
| 1940s | 10 | #3,430 (1944) | #3,560 |
| 1950s | 148 | #1,559 (1959) | #2,237 |
| 1960s | 341 | #1,083 (1968) | #1,366 |
| 1970s | 592 | #945 (1979) | #1,110 |
| 1980s | 958 | #848 (1989) | #947 |
| 1990s | 2,640 | #478 (1999) | #682 |
| 2000s | 12,620 | #213 (2009) | #273 |
| 2010s | 25,984 | #100 (2019) | #161 |
| 2020s | 26,927 | #59 (2022) | #75 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 boys in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Kai in 1990
Top girls' names in 1990
Top boys' names in 1990
More about 1990
girls
1,898,547 girls got a published name in 1990; 1 in 37,226 of them was named Kai, which outranked 84.2% of the 15,234 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 16.0% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).
- #2,374Torey52
- #2,374Windy52
- #2,374Yuridia52
- #2,402Kai51
- #2,402Abagail51
- #2,402Anisa51
- #2,402Annastasia51
- #2,437Aminah50
- #2,437Amirah50
- #2,437Ashliegh50
Tied with 34 names at #2,402; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.
boys
2,054,038 boys got a published name in 1990; 1 in 16,565 of them was named Kai, which outranked 90.2% of the 9,493 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 19.5% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).