Kai

See also: kai, kài, kāi, kǎi, -kai, and ka'i

English

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”).

Pronunciation

(Canada) IPA^(key): /kaɪ/
Rhymes: -aɪ

Proper noun

Kai

A male given name from the Germanic languages, of modern usage.
(rare) A female given name of modern usage.

Anagrams

AKI, KIA, Kia, aik

Danish

Proper noun

Kai

a male given name, a less common spelling of Kaj

References

[1] 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.

Estonian

Proper noun

Kai

a female given name, short for Kaia, Katariina ("Catherine")

Faroese

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

a male given name, compare Kaj (more common, but Danish spelling)

Usage notes

Patronymics

son of Kai: Kaisson
daughter Kai: Kaisdóttir

Declension

	singular
	indefinite
nominative	Kai
accusative	Kai
dative	Kai
genitive	Kais

Finnish

Etymology

From Danish Kaj.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkɑi̯/, [ˈkɑ̝i̯]
Rhymes: -ɑi
Hyphenation^(key): Kai

Proper noun

Kai

a male given name

Declension

Inflection of Kai (Kotus type 18/maa, no gradation)
nominative		Kai	Kait
genitive		Kain	Kaiden Kaitten
partitive		Kaita	Kaita
illative		Kaihin	Kaihin
		singular	plural
nominative		Kai	Kait
accusative	nom.	Kai	Kait
accusative	gen.	Kain	Kait
genitive		Kain	Kaiden Kaitten
partitive		Kaita	Kaita
inessive		Kaissa	Kaissa
elative		Kaista	Kaista
illative		Kaihin	Kaihin
adessive		Kailla	Kailla
ablative		Kailta	Kailta
allative		Kaille	Kaille
essive		Kaina	Kaina
translative		Kaiksi	Kaiksi
abessive		Kaitta	Kaitta
instructive		—	Kain
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Kai (Kotus type 18/maa, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		Kaini	Kaini
accusative	nom.	Kaini	Kaini
accusative	gen.	Kaini	Kaini
genitive		Kaini	Kaideni Kaitteni
partitive		Kaitani	Kaitani
inessive		Kaissani	Kaissani
elative		Kaistani	Kaistani
illative		Kaihini	Kaihini
adessive		Kaillani	Kaillani
ablative		Kailtani	Kailtani
allative		Kailleni	Kailleni
essive		Kainani	Kainani
translative		Kaikseni	Kaikseni
abessive		Kaittani	Kaittani
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	Kaineni

second-person singular possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		Kaisi	Kaisi
accusative	nom.	Kaisi	Kaisi
accusative	gen.	Kaisi	Kaisi
genitive		Kaisi	Kaidesi Kaittesi
partitive		Kaitasi	Kaitasi
inessive		Kaissasi	Kaissasi
elative		Kaistasi	Kaistasi
illative		Kaihisi	Kaihisi
adessive		Kaillasi	Kaillasi
ablative		Kailtasi	Kailtasi
allative		Kaillesi	Kaillesi
essive		Kainasi	Kainasi
translative		Kaiksesi	Kaiksesi
abessive		Kaittasi	Kaittasi
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	Kainesi

first-person plural possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		Kaimme	Kaimme
accusative	nom.	Kaimme	Kaimme
accusative	gen.	Kaimme	Kaimme
genitive		Kaimme	Kaidemme Kaittemme
partitive		Kaitamme	Kaitamme
inessive		Kaissamme	Kaissamme
elative		Kaistamme	Kaistamme
illative		Kaihimme	Kaihimme
adessive		Kaillamme	Kaillamme
ablative		Kailtamme	Kailtamme
allative		Kaillemme	Kaillemme
essive		Kainamme	Kainamme
translative		Kaiksemme	Kaiksemme
abessive		Kaittamme	Kaittamme
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	Kainemme

second-person plural possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		Kainne	Kainne
accusative	nom.	Kainne	Kainne
accusative	gen.	Kainne	Kainne
genitive		Kainne	Kaidenne Kaittenne
partitive		Kaitanne	Kaitanne
inessive		Kaissanne	Kaissanne
elative		Kaistanne	Kaistanne
illative		Kaihinne	Kaihinne
adessive		Kaillanne	Kaillanne
ablative		Kailtanne	Kailtanne
allative		Kaillenne	Kaillenne
essive		Kainanne	Kainanne
translative		Kaiksenne	Kaiksenne
abessive		Kaittanne	Kaittanne
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	Kainenne

third-person possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		Kainsa	Kainsa
accusative	nom.	Kainsa	Kainsa
accusative	gen.	Kainsa	Kainsa
genitive		Kainsa	Kaidensa Kaittensa
partitive		Kaitaan Kaitansa	Kaitaan Kaitansa
inessive		Kaissaan Kaissansa	Kaissaan Kaissansa
elative		Kaistaan Kaistansa	Kaistaan Kaistansa
illative		Kaihinsa	Kaihinsa
adessive		Kaillaan Kaillansa	Kaillaan Kaillansa
ablative		Kailtaan Kailtansa	Kailtaan Kailtansa
allative		Kailleen Kaillensa	Kailleen Kaillensa
essive		Kainaan Kainansa	Kainaan Kainansa
translative		Kaikseen Kaiksensa	Kaikseen Kaiksensa
abessive		Kaittaan Kaittansa	Kaittaan Kaittansa
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	Kaineen Kainensa

Statistics

Kai is the 91^st most common male given name in Finland, belonging to 7,771 male individuals (and as a middle name to 1,269 more), and also belongs to 34 female individuals (and as a middle name to 12 more), according to February 2023 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

Anagrams

Aki, aik.

German

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kaɪ̯/
Rhymes: -aɪ̯

Etymology 1

17th century, 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.

Noun

Kai m (strong, genitive Kais, plural Kais or (uncommon) Kaie)

wharf, quay

Declension

Declension of Kai [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Kai	die	Kais, Kaie¹
genitive	eines	des	Kais	der	Kais, Kaie¹
dative	einem	dem	Kai	den	Kais, Kaien¹
accusative	einen	den	Kai	die	Kais, Kaie¹

¹Uncommon.

Descendants

→ Polish: keja

Etymology 2

German Wikipedia has an article on:

Kai (Vorname)

Wikipedia ^de

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”).

Proper noun

Kai m or f (proper noun, strong, genitive Kais, plural Kais)

(chiefly Northern Germany) a male given name
(rare) a diminutive of the female given name Katharina

Declension

Declension of Kai [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Kai	die	Kais
genitive	eines	des	Kais	der	Kais
dative	einem	dem	Kai	den	Kais
accusative	einen	den	Kai	die	Kais

Declension of Kai [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Kai	die	Kais
genitive	einer	der	Kais	der	Kais
dative	einer	der	Kai	den	Kais
accusative	eine	die	Kai	die	Kais

Alternative forms

Kaj, Kay

Hawaiian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Proper noun

Kai

a male or (less commonly) female given name from Hawaiian

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.

Kanakanabu

Proper noun

Kai

a female given name

North Frisian

Alternative forms

kai (Föhr-Amrum)
koie (Mooring)

Etymology

From Old Frisian kēi. Cognates include West Frisian kaai.

Noun

Kai m (plural Kaier)

(Sylt) key

Norwegian

Proper noun

Kai

a male given name derived from Danish Kaj

Turkish

Proper noun

Kai

a male given name derived from Kayı