Kai

Etymology

Taken into regular use in the 1990s, with earlier popularity peaks in Scandinavia and Germany. The medieval Danish Kaj is possibly of Roman origin, Latinized as Caius, like the rare medieval English male given name Kay. The German Kai may also derive from a West Frisian pet form of Gerard, Cornelius, Nicholas, or Kampe "warrior". In the U.S. Kai has also been explained as Hawaiian kai (“sea”).

Proper noun

Kai

1. A male given name of modern usage.
2. (rare) A female given name of modern usage.

Anagrams

• AKI, KIA, Kia, aik

Proper noun

Kai

1. A male given name, a less common spelling of Kaj.

References

• Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 8 117 males with the given name Kai (compared to 31 574 named Kaj) have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1920s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Proper noun

Kai

1. A female given name, short for Kaia, Katariina ( =Catherine).

Etymology

From Danish Kaj, from Latin Cāius, from Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌉𐌄 (caie), from an era when the letter C represented the phonetic value /ɡ/.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰaiː/
• Rhymes: -aiː
• Homophones: kai, kei

Proper noun

Kai m

1. A male given name, compare Kaj (more common, but Danish spelling)

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: Kai
• Rhymes: -ɑi
• IPA^(key): [kɑi]

Proper noun

Kai

1. A male given name derived from Danish Kaj.

Anagrams

• Aki

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯

Etymology 1

From Dutch kaai, from Middle Dutch kaey (whence also through hypercorrection Dutch kade). The word is ultimately Celtic, but it is unsettled whether the Dutch form is borrowed via Old French kay, as traditionally held, or indeed vice versa.

Etymology 2

Taken into regular use in the 20th century; either borrowed from Danish Kaj, or from a West Frisian baby talk form of Kaimbe, Kempe (fighter, warrior), Gerrit ( =Gerard), Cornelis (= Cornelius) and Kleis ( =Nicholas).

Etymology

From kai (“sea, sea water”) ; also a short form of compound given names containing this word.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaj/, [ˈkɐj]
• (rapid speech) IPA^(key): [ˈkɛj]

Proper noun

Kai

1. A male given name.
2. (less common) A female given name.

References

• Hawaii State Archives: Marriage records Kai occurs in 19th century marriage records as the only name (mononym) of 10 women and 13 men.
• Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names by State: Kai was included in the top hundred first names for boys born in the State of Hawaii in 1995-2008.

Proper noun

Kai

1. A male given name derived from Danish Kaj.

Proper noun

Kai

1. A male given name derived from Kayı.

See also

• Kailar
• Kayılar