Kairi
A feminine Japanese name meaning "great village, sea child".
Name Census estimates that about 6,485 living Americans carry the first name Kairi. It is a predominantly female name (91.9% of registrations). The average person named Kairi today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kairi births was 2019 (448 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kairi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kairi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kairi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
6.5K
~ 1 in 52,853 Americans
Peak year
2019
448 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,030
Tracked since 1974
Census
Kairi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,425 people with the first name Kairi, which placed it at #4,290 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,290
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,425 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kairi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kairi is White at 46.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.0%) and Two or More Races (11.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kairi described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kairi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.6% · 2,060
- Hispanic or Latino24.0% · 1,062
- Two or more races11.9% · 526
- Black or African American9.9% · 437
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.0% · 309
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 31
Gender
Gender distribution for Kairi
Kairi leans heavily female at 91.9% of total registrations, but 527 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kairi as a male name
- Ranked #3,010 in 2024
- 41 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (46 births)
Kairi as a female name
- Ranked #1,030 in 2024
- 244 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (421 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kairi leans strongly female. 4,110 people counted with this name were female (92.9%), compared with 312 male bearers (7.1%).
Popularity
Kairi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kairi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,490 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kairi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kairi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kairi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kairis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kairi, while West Virginia, Connecticut, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 128 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kairi
The given name Kairi is believed to have its origins in the Japanese language. It is a feminine name that gained popularity in Japan during the latter half of the 20th century.
The name Kairi is thought to be derived from the Japanese word "kairai," which means "fragrance" or "aroma." It is also possibly related to the Japanese word "kairaku," meaning "pleasure" or "delight." The name may have been chosen to convey a sense of beauty, grace, or pleasant qualities.
There are no known historical references or ancient texts that mention the name Kairi specifically. However, the name's connection to words related to fragrance and pleasure could suggest a connection to Japanese cultural traditions that celebrate the appreciation of natural beauty and sensory experiences.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kairi dates back to the late 20th century in Japan. However, there are no notable historical figures from earlier periods who bore this name.
Throughout modern history, there have been a few notable individuals with the first name Kairi:
1. Kairi Sane (born 1988) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed with WWE. She is a former NXT Women's Champion and was part of the iconic Kabuki Warriors tag team.
2. Kairi Chiba (born 1988) is a Japanese singer and voice actress. She has provided vocals for various anime series and video games, including the popular "Love Live!" franchise.
3. Kairi Hojo (born 1995) is a Japanese actress and model. She has appeared in several Japanese television dramas and films.
4. Kairi Sakamoto (born 1992) is a Japanese figure skater. She has represented Japan at multiple international competitions, including the Winter Olympics.
5. Kairi Yoshida (born 1998) is a Japanese professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds.
While these individuals have gained recognition in various fields, the name Kairi itself does not appear to have any significant historical figures associated with it prior to the modern era.
People
Kairi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kairi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kairi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kairi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,485 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kairi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 52,853 US residents.
Is Kairi a common name?
We classify Kairi as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,542 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kairi most popular?
The single biggest year for Kairi was 2019, when 448 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kairi is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kairi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,425 people with the name Kairi, or 1.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,290 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kairi in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kairi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kairi leans strongly female. 4,110 people counted with this name were female (92.9%), compared with 312 male bearers (7.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kairi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kairi is White at 46.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.0%) and Two or More Races (11.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kairi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kairi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.6% (2,060 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kairi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kairi a female name?
Yes, 91.9% of people registered as Kairi in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kairi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kairi in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kairi can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Kairi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.