Kairi
Masculine · “sea and village”
Kairi is given to both — 569 boys and 6,256 girls since 1880. See Kairi as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Kairi is Japanese and built the way many Japanese names are: two elements chosen for their characters as much as their sound. The first is almost always the sea, which gives the name a fixed image whatever the second turns out to be.
How old is the name Kairi?
Kairi first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Kairi is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Kairi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kairi most popular?
Kairi peaked in 2022, reaching #2793 nationally. Today it ranks #2941, 148 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Kairi
Japanese given names are frequently assembled from two kanji whose combined sense the parents like, and the pool of usable characters is large enough that new combinations are made constantly. Kai, the sea, is among the most popular first elements for sons in recent decades, and Kairi belongs to that current. It is a modern name rather than a traditional one. It reaches United States records with Japanese families and, increasingly, through video games and animation, where the name has been carried by well-known characters.
Meaningscholars disagree
sea and village, or sea and reason — depending on the characters
Japanese names are written in kanji and the sound kairi carries several combinations. 海里 is kai, sea, with ri, village or a unit of distance — the compound is also the Japanese word for a nautical mile. 海理 gives sea and reason or logic. Others exist. The sea element is nearly constant; the second half varies, and the sound alone cannot say which a family chose.
Pronouncing Kairi
KAI-ree
Three light beats in Japanese — ka-i-ri — with no English-style stress and the r a light tap between an r and an l. American English says KY-ree, compressing the first two, which is close enough to pass.
Nicknames for Kairi
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1974
- Most boys named
- 202246 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2793reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- +2.4%42 in 2025, from 41
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kairi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 海里 in Japanese — transliteration
- 海理 in Japanese — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Kairis among us
people named Kairi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 40,668 born in 2025 was named Kairi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kairi
- #2941
- Kairi on the 2025 chart
- #876
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kairi went to 42 boys in 2025, but Khairi is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 52, which makes it the 876th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,065 places above the chart.
- Kairi42
- Khairi10
About 1 boy in 32,848 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 40,668 for Kairi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Piero test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kairi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Piero climbed just as high around 1977, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Piero's path sketches the road Kairi is walking now.
Kairi sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Kairi is headed
Kairi looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 21% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kairi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kairi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kai is a ready short form and a complete name of its own across several traditions.
- Five letters, entirely phonetic, and said nearly correctly by English speakers at first sight.
- The sea element gives it a concrete image rather than an abstract quality.
- Its meaning depends on the kanji, so no single gloss is complete without them.
- In Japan it is a modern name rather than a traditional one, which some families weigh.
- It is strongly associated with particular video game characters for many American listeners.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kairi
Masculine · #2941 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kairis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Kairi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kairi?
- Kairi is the most-used spelling in US records — 42 of the 52 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Khairi.
- How popular is the name Kairi in 2025?
- Kairi ranks #2941 among US boy names in 2025, with 42 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kairi?
- About 1 in every 40,668 US boys born in 2025 was named Kairi — 42 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kairi with classmates?
- Kairi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kairi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Prescott#2941 · Kwame#2941 · Michelangelo#2941 · Jahan#2941 · Yonah#2941 · Nihal#2941 · Lakai#2941 · Reyes#2941
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kairi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kairi and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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