Fun Facts About the Name Hai
- 588 babies named Hai: U.S. records list 588 babies given the name Hai from 1880 through 2025. Even 21 girls received the name Hai - about 1 girl for every 27 boys.
What Does the Name Hai Mean?
Hai has several independent origins, so its meaning depends on which language a bearer's family had in mind. In Chinese it stands for hǎi (海), "sea" or "ocean," a character used in given names and, rarely, as a surname. Vietnamese shares the element through Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary: hải also means "sea" and appears in compound names such as Hải Yến and Hải Anh. Vietnamese also has a word of different origin, hai, the number "two," used as a familiar name for a second-born child. In Hebrew, ḥai (חַי) is an ordinary word meaning "living" or "alive"; Arabic ḥayy (حَي) means the same, and the two belong to one Semitic root, so their shared meaning comes from common ancestry rather than from a coincidence of spelling.
The Hebrew and Arabic sense is literal, not symbolic: the word describes anything alive. Because Hebrew's initial ḥet is written either h or ch in English, the same name appears as both Hai and Chai, with Chai the more usual spelling when the Hebrew word is meant. In Arabic the word forms the divine name al-Ḥayy, "the Ever-Living," one of the ninety-nine names of God in Islamic tradition. The Chinese and Vietnamese "sea" meaning and the Semitic "living" meaning are unrelated to each other; the identical spelling in English reflects transliteration, not a shared source.
Hai Name History & Origins
In Chinese-speaking regions the character 海 is a long-established naming element, normally combined with a second character rather than used alone, and it also occurs as an uncommon surname. Vietnam inherited the same character through centuries of literary contact with Chinese, and Hải became a standard element of two-part given names and is also used by itself as a male name. The unrelated ordinal hai produced a separate custom: families, particularly in southern Vietnam, have called children by birth order, so a second son might be known as Hai. In that use it works as a household name rather than a formal given name.
Among Jews, the word ḥai has been used as a personal name in modern Hebrew and in Jewish communities elsewhere, sometimes on its own and sometimes as part of a compound such as Ḥayyim ("life"). Arabic uses the word in the divine name al-Ḥayy; as a personal name it is uncommon, but it appears in literary titles, most notably Ibn Tufail's medieval Arabic philosophical tale Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, where the name is usually rendered "Alive" or "the Living One."
How Popular is the Name Hai?
Hai 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 1983. Its best rank was #1,435 in 1983.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | #7,629 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1983 | #9,433 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1982 | #8,540 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | #9,036 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2013 | #11,221 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2012 | #7,214 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2005 | #12,066 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2004 | #11,986 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #10,026 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2002 | #11,305 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2001 | #7,117 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2000 | #8,510 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #5,785 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1998 | #10,186 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #4,761 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1996 | #4,255 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1995 | #3,476 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1994 | #4,172 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1993 | #3,421 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1992 | #3,042 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 1991 | #5,237 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1990 | #2,514 | 27 | 0.0013% |
| 1989 | #2,937 | 21 | 0.0010% |
| 1988 | #3,125 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1987 | #2,358 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 1986 | #1,980 | 30 | 0.0016% |
| 1985 | #1,626 | 39 | 0.0021% |
| 1984 | #1,809 | 31 | 0.0017% |
| 1983 | #1,435 | 44 | 0.0025% |
| 1982 | #1,909 | 29 | 0.0016% |
| 1981 | #1,966 | 28 | 0.0016% |
| 1980 | #2,080 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 1979 | #2,263 | 22 | 0.0013% |
| 1978 | #2,842 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 1977 | #6,216 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1976 | #2,996 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1975 | #5,784 | 5 | 0.0003% |
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 Hai Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You attract success and money. You are a lover of nature and do not need others for your happiness. You are self sufficient. You strive for material success and power and have business sense. You possess strong organizational abilities, can be a good manager, and executive by nature. You are capable of great achievement in business and finance. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You desire to inspire and lead, to control other's affairs. You are giving, courageous and bold, action oriented,energetic and strong willed. You want to make a difference in the world, and this attitude often attracts you to cultural interests, politics, social issues, and the cultivation of your creative talents.
✦ Hai's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Hai's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.