Zakai
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “pure”
Zakai is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,052 boys against 18 girls since 1880.
Zakai is the Hebrew name Zakkai, which appears in the Book of Ezra as the head of a family returning from exile in Babylon, and which the Greek translators of the New Testament reshaped into Zacchaeus. Said aloud it is two open syllables ending in the same bright sound as Kai — an ancient word wearing a very modern shape.
How old is the name Zakai?
Zakai first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Zakai is a kid of about 4 — this name's wave is very recent. About 4,000 people named Zakai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zakai most popular?
Zakai peaked in 2025, reaching #563 nationally. Today it ranks #563, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Zakai appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Zakkai (Hebrew) to Zakai
The story of Zakai
Zakkai is recorded in Hebrew scripture as a family name among those who came back from Babylon, and it stayed in use through the rabbinic centuries — Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, one of the central figures of Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple in the first century, was known by his father's name. Greek-speaking writers rendered it Zakchaios, which passed into Latin and English as Zacchaeus, the tax collector who climbs a tree in the Gospel of Luke. That branch became the familiar church name; the original Hebrew form stayed closer to home. Zakai, the streamlined English spelling, is a recent arrival on American records and its wave has been sharply upward.
Meaning
pure, innocent
From the Hebrew root zakah, to be clean or pure; in later legal Hebrew, zakkai means innocent or acquitted.
How the name formed
- ZakkaiHebrew
- ZakchaiosGreek
- ZacchaeusLatin, English
- Zakai
Related forms: Zakkai · Zacchaeus · Ζακχαῖος (Zakchaios) · Zaqueo · Zaccheo · Zachée
Pronouncing Zakai
zah-KY
The Hebrew stress falls on the second syllable, rhyming with 'sky'. Some American families say ZAK-eye, with the weight up front. Both are in real use, so it helps to settle on one early and repeat it.
Nicknames for Zakai
High
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
- 2025528 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #563reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +11.6%528 in 2025, from 473
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.
Zakai in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zakkai in Hebrew — transliteration
- Zacchaeus in English — related form
- Ζακχαῖος (Zakchaios) in Greek — related form
- Zaqueo in Spanish — related form
- Zaccheo in Italian — related form
- Zachée in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Texas, California.
Zakais among us
people named Zakai are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,235 born in 2025 was named Zakai
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zakai
- #563
- Zakai on the 2025 chart
- #428
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zakai went to 528 boys in 2025, but Zaccai, Zakkai and Zakhai and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 672, which makes it the 428th most-given boys’ name of the year — 135 places above the chart.
- Zakai528
- Zaccai85
- Zakkai27
- Zakhai18
- Zacai7
- Zakaii7
About 1 boy in 2,542 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 3,235 for Zakai 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 Damarion test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zakai's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Damarion climbed just as high around 2005, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Damarion's path sketches the road Zakai is walking now.
Zakai is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Zakai is headed
Zakai looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 30% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Zakai beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zakai in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Hebrew name with a record stretching back to scripture and the rabbinic period, despite the modern-looking spelling.
- Two syllables, five letters, and no silent letters — easy to write out by hand early in school.
- Ends in Kai, a sound Americans already know well, so most people can repeat it after hearing it once.
- Connected by origin to Zacchaeus, giving it a longer, more formal cousin if one is ever wanted.
- It is regularly confused with Zachary and Zachariah, which come from a different Hebrew root meaning 'the Lord remembers'. Expect to correct the assumption that Zakai is short for Zach.
- Two live pronunciations compete — zah-KY and ZAK-eye — and a child with this name will be introducing it, and re-introducing it, fairly often.
- The spelling is not the standard scholarly one, so Zakkai, Zachai and Zakkai will all turn up on forms and mail.
- Its rise is very recent and concentrated among young children, so it will read as contemporary rather than inherited — a fair trade for a name almost no classmate will share.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Zakai to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Zakai? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Zakai
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #563 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zakais are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,000 people named Zakai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zakai?
- Zakai is the most-used spelling in US records — 528 of the 672 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Zaccai, Zakkai, Zakhai, Zacai and Zakaii.
- How popular is the name Zakai in 2025?
- Zakai ranks #563 among US boy names in 2025, with 528 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zakai?
- About 1 in every 3,235 US boys born in 2025 was named Zakai — 528 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zakai with classmates?
- Zakai will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zakai
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garrett#564 · Mohammad#561 · Andy#565 · Deacon#561 · Colsen#566 · Porter#560 · Zain#567 · Morgan#559
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zakai? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zakai and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle