Baby name
RISING
🇺🇸 Makai
/meh · KAI/
Meaning
“Possibly toward the sea”
Origin uncertain. Possibly a modern invented name - a variant of Mekhi, itself a name of uncertain meaning - first used in African American communities in the US. The identical spelling is also a genuine Hawaiian word meaning 'seaward, toward the sea' (from ma-, a stative prefix, plus kai, 'sea'); the Hawaiian reading is likely a spelling coincidence rather than this name's true origin.
Vibe
cooladventurous
How it ages.
A modern American name often read as the Hawaiian word for 'toward the sea' - rising fast over the past two decades.
The cultural moment.
United States: rose from #820 in 2005 (0.011% of births) to #481 in 2025 (0.034%).