Makai
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Meaning
“Hawaiian word meaning 'toward the sea'”
The story
Makai is a word and a name sharing one spelling. In Hawaiian, makai is a direction: toward the sea, the everyday opposite of mauka, toward the mountains. The reference books file the American name as a modern variant of Mekhi, a name of uncertain root at about 12,400 boys in our records, and the listed pronunciation follows Mekhi's sound. One spelling, a word and a name: about 145 boys in the 1990s, 1,800 in the 2000s, 3,900 in the 2010s, and 3,420 so far this decade among boys, about 9,300 boys in our records to 310 girls, traveling beside Kai, the sea itself, at about 78,700 with its own story. A word and a name sharing a spelling, and the word points straight at the water.
How popular is Makai around the world?
In the United States, 3,471 babies were named Makai between 2020 and 2025.
Makai is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 6,300
In the United States, 3,471 babies were named Makai between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Makai peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Makai in 2017.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 23,000
In Canada, 16 boys named Makai were born in 2024, ranked 1,390th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 34,000
In England and Wales, 17 boys named Makai were born in 2025, ranked 1,538th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Poland
last on record 2024
Makai is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Makai
Most people given the name Makai in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Makai deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Makai truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Makai fits with your family’s names and surname.
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