Fun Facts About the Name Akai
- More than 1 thousand babies named Akai: U.S. records list 1,078 babies given the name Akai from 1880 through 2025. Even 68 girls received the name Akai - about 1 girl for every 15 boys.
What Does the Name Akai Mean?
Akai has two independent origins, so it carries two different meanings. As a Kazakh, and more broadly Turkic, given name written Ақай, it is formed from ақ (aq), "white," and ай (ai), "moon," and is commonly understood as "white moon." As a Japanese surname written 赤井, it is read from aka, "red," and i, "well," giving the topographic sense "red well." The Turkic and Japanese names look alike in English spelling but come from unrelated languages; neither is a translation, variant, or shortened form of the other.
Akai Name History & Origins
In Kazakh use, Ақай is a personal name rather than an inherited family name. Kazakh names are often built by joining two ordinary words, with a color or quality word first and a nature word second. Both elements of Ақай fit that pattern: ақ, "white," opens names such as Ақбота and Ақжол, and ай, "moon," closes names such as Айгүл and Айбек. Names of this kind are given at birth among Kazakhs and other Turkic-speaking groups in Central Asia.
In Japan, Akai is chiefly a surname. It belongs to the large group of Japanese family names taken from places and landscape features: 赤井, "red well," originally identified a well or spring, and the place name later became a family name. The first element is the same root as the ordinary Japanese word akai, "red." A less common spelling, 赤居, uses the character for "residence" or "seat" in place of "well." Japanese surnames of this kind are not related to the Turkic given name Ақай; they are separate names that happen to share a Latin-alphabet spelling.
How Popular is the Name Akai?
Akai has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2023. Its best rank was #1,666 in 2023.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | #9,633 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #12,283 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #13,860 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #15,999 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #11,876 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2011 | #14,882 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2010 | #13,495 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2008 | #13,889 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1997 | #13,785 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #8,333 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,753 | 92 | 0.0054% |
| 2024 | #2,129 | 69 | 0.0040% |
| 2023 | #1,666 | 102 | 0.0060% |
| 2022 | #1,803 | 90 | 0.0052% |
| 2021 | #2,059 | 71 | 0.0041% |
| 2020 | #2,138 | 65 | 0.0038% |
| 2019 | #2,229 | 62 | 0.0035% |
| 2018 | #2,800 | 43 | 0.0024% |
| 2017 | #2,567 | 49 | 0.0026% |
| 2016 | #3,163 | 36 | 0.0019% |
| 2015 | #3,686 | 29 | 0.0015% |
| 2014 | #3,458 | 31 | 0.0016% |
| 2013 | #3,063 | 36 | 0.0019% |
| 2012 | #3,233 | 34 | 0.0018% |
| 2011 | #4,825 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2010 | #4,683 | 20 | 0.0010% |
| 2009 | #3,923 | 26 | 0.0013% |
| 2008 | #4,543 | 21 | 0.0010% |
| 2007 | #5,666 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 2006 | #4,681 | 19 | 0.0009% |
| 2005 | #6,648 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2004 | #6,145 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2003 | #5,884 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2002 | #6,537 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2001 | #9,271 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #8,731 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1994 | #8,829 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #5,346 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1985 | #6,544 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1975 | #4,315 | 7 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Akai Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.
✦ Akai's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Akai's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.