Names like Kai
In 2025, 3,768 boys born in the US were named Kai, #93 among boys' names.
It first entered the top 1,000 in 1978 and reached the top 100 in 2019.
Its best rank was #59, in 2022.
The most births in one year were 5,374, in 2022.
Births rose 32% from 2,852 in 2015.
For 11 of the 12 names below, the current unbroken run in the top 1,000 began in 1973 or later (Kai's began in 1978).
Kai's rank every ten years
- 1880—
- 1890—
- 1900—
- 1910—
- 1920—
- 1930—
- 1940—
- 1950—
- 1960—
- 1970—
- 1980#970
- 1990#913
- 2000#403
- 2010#205
- 2020#93
- 2025#93
— outside the top 1,000
12 boy names with a similar curve
How this list was made
We compared Kai's rank in every year from 1880 to 2025 with every other boy's name in the 2025 top 1,000 (US Social Security birth records); the closest curves come first. Years outside the top 1,000 count the same however far outside, years since 1995 count four times as much, and each name appears in one spelling.