Makhai
Masculine
Makhai is a recent American name built on an open Ma- opening and the -kai ending that Makai and Kai left in circulation.
How old is the name Makhai?
Makhai first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Makhai is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Makhai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Makhai most popular?
Makhai peaked in 2017, reaching #2240 nationally. Today it ranks #3848, 1,608 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Makhai
Ours, offered as ours. Hawaiian has a pair of directional words that do a great deal of work on an island: makai, toward the sea, and mauka, toward the mountains. Directions are given that way rather than by compass, because on an island those are the two that matter. Makhai is an American spelling that lands near makai without being it. The Hawaiian word is real, useful and not a personal name, and all three of those facts are worth having.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source language is established. The construction is documented: a Ma- opening and a -kai ending, the latter a real word in Hawaiian for the sea and a real name in several languages. Hawaiian makai means toward the sea and is a genuine word, though a direction rather than a name.
Pronouncing Makhai
muh-KY
Two syllables with the stress on the second. The kh is said as a plain k in English.
Nicknames for Makhai
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
- 1998
- Most boys named
- 201759 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2240reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- +3.7%28 in 2025, from 27
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.
Makhai in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Makai in Hawaiian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Georgia, Illinois.
Makhais among us
people named Makhai are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 61,003 born in 2025 was named Makhai
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Makhai
- #3848
- Makhai on the 2025 chart
- #432
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Makhai went to 28 boys in 2025, but Makai and Makaii are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 659, which makes it the 432nd most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,416 places above the chart.
- Makai626
- Makhai28
- Makaii5
About 1 boy in 2,592 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 61,003 for Makhai 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 Benoit test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Makhai's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Benoit climbed just as high around 1922, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Benoit's path sketches the road Makhai is walking now.
Makhai 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 Makhai is headed
Makhai is easing off slowly — about 25% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Makhai beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Makhai 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 complete short form with real lives in several languages.
- Open vowels make it easy to say in most languages.
- Rare in the records, so it stays distinct on a class list.
- The kh will be spelled out for him constantly, since American ears hear a plain k.
- Makhai, Makai and Makhi are all in use and none is dominant.
- There is no documented meaning, only a construction.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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Makhai
Masculine · #3848 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Makhais are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Makhai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Makhai?
- Makhai is one of 3 recorded spellings. Makai is the more common one — 626 births in 2025 against 28 for Makhai.
- How popular is the name Makhai in 2025?
- Makhai ranks #3848 among US boy names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Makhai?
- About 1 in every 61,003 US boys born in 2025 was named Makhai — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Makhai with classmates?
- Makhai will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Makhai
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Armand#3848 · Tracy#3848 · Stafford#3848 · Dewey#3848 · Donny#3848 · Trevion#3848 · Coltyn#3848 · Isreal#3848
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Makhai? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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