Kaito
Masculine · “ocean and soaring”
Kaito is written with characters for sea and soaring in Japanese — and which characters a family picks decides what the name means.
How old is the name Kaito?
Kaito first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Kaito is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,200 people named Kaito are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kaito most popular?
Kaito peaked in 2022, reaching #1875 nationally. Today it ranks #2077, 202 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Where it comes from
From 海斗 to Kaito
The story of Kaito
A Japanese name is chosen twice — once for how it sounds and once for the characters that write it — so two boys called Kaito may carry quite different meanings. The sea element has been popular in recent decades. Kaito rose sharply in Japan from the 1990s and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
ocean and soaring
Japanese names take meaning from the kanji chosen, not the sound. Kaito is commonly written 海斗 or 海翔 — kai, 'sea', with to meaning a dipper constellation or 'to soar'. Other kanji give other meanings entirely. The sound alone does not fix the reading, which is a genuine feature of the language.
How the name formed
- 海斗
- Kaito
Related forms: 海斗 · 海翔
Pronouncing Kaito
KY-toh
Two syllables, even stress. Japanese gives each mora equal weight rather than stressing one.
Nicknames for Kaito
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
- 1994
- Most boys named
- 202284 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1875reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −5.3%71 in 2025, from 75
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.
Kaito in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 海斗 in Japanese — transliteration
- 海翔 in Japanese — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Hawaii, New York.
Kaitos among us
people named Kaito are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 24,057 born in 2025 was named Kaito
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jayton test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kaito's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jayton climbed just as high around 2000, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jayton's path sketches the road Kaito is walking now.
Kaito 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 Kaito is headed
Kaito should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Kaito beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kaito in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the written characters and not the sound carry the meaning is a first-rate fact.
- Kai is available as a short form that is fully current in English.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- Written in the Latin alphabet the name loses its meaning entirely.
- It reads as specifically Japanese.
- English speakers apply a stress pattern Japanese does not have.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kaito to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kaito
Masculine · #2077 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kaitos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Kaito are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kaito in 2025?
- Kaito ranks #2077 among US boy names in 2025, with 71 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kaito?
- About 1 in every 24,057 US boys born in 2025 was named Kaito — 71 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kaito with classmates?
- Kaito will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kaito
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ridley#2077 · Aren#2077 · Kamron#2077 · Evans#2077 · Aharon#2077 · Fredy#2077 · Kalen#2077 · Alpha#2077
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kaito? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kaito and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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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