Cai

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Cai: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Cai: Recorded every year since 1996, it reached #214 in 2006, and it stood at #664 in 2024.

3registrars recorded it
45times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#214highest recorded position
10groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2006

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#3795
2003	#4373
2004	#4598
2005	#3382
2006	#5061

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2023: #272 among boys in Northern Ireland, #660 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #754 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #3795 among girls in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #214 among boys in England and Wales, in 2006 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #664 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Cai appears in 4 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 2,688 births with the name.

Cai across 4 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Cai's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#435 (1996)	#214 (2006)	#664 (2024)	29 of 29	2,688 (1996–2024)	192 (2006)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#220 (1999)	#220 (1999)	#272 (2023)	6 of 25	23 (1999–2023)	6 (2023)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#604 (2009)	#604 (2009)	#660 (2023)	5 of 15	18 (2009–2023)	4 (2009)
England and Wales · Girls	#3795 (1996)	#3382 (2005)	#5061 (2006)	5 of 11	17 (1996–2006)	5 (2005)

Cai by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Cai in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	244	4 of 10	61
2000sbusiest	1,316	10 of 10	132
2010s	855	10 of 10	86
2020s	273	5 of 10	55

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 132 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2006 and 2007, when recorded births fell by 46, from 192 to 146.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Cai appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #214 in England and Wales in 2006.

Cai's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#664	56	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#754	44	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#656	53	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#650	56	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#568	64	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#655	53	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#590	62	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#526	74	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#512	79	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#445	91	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#463	85	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#412	98	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#460	86	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#375	107	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#349	120	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#299	142	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#289	145	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#275	146	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#5061	3	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#214	192	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#3382	5	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#236	148	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#4598	3	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#271	120	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#4373	3	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#233	138	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#272	102	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#305	89	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#287	94	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#381	59	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#324	77	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#369	62	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#3795	3	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#435	46	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	male	#272	6	High	Verified
2015	Northern Ireland	male	#415	3	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	male	#387	3	High	Verified
2009	Northern Ireland	male	#390	3	High	Verified
2001	Northern Ireland	male	#280	3	High	Verified
1999	Northern Ireland	male	#220	5	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	male	#660	4	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#779	3	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	male	#755	3	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	male	#623	4	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#604	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #214, first reached in 2006.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 192 births, registered in England and Wales in 2006.

1 registrar publishes it in more than one category list, holding a place in each for at least five years — an observation about those lists rather than about the name.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1999, and 13 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Cahan · #274, 11y
Cahir · #105, 29y
Caia · #896, 19y
Caian · #2087, 15y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Cailin · #213, 30y
Haydn · #215, 29y
Radha · #215, 27y
Tallulah · #213, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Arwen · #215, 26y
Coby · #213, 30y
Ember · #215, 24y
Haydn · #215, 29y

Cai was ranked #214 in England and Wales · Boys in 2006. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Cai and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Cai without appearing here.

Cai moved ahead of

Scott Compare
In 2023 they stood at #754 and #691 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #664 and #1025.
Ashley Compare
In 2023 they stood at #754 and #704 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #664 and #880.
Shane Compare
In 2023 they stood at #754 and #754 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #664 and #857.
Wayne Compare
In 1997 they stood at #369 and #323 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1998 that had become #324 and #490.

Moved ahead of Cai

Hunter Compare
In 2011 they stood at #375 and #473 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #460 and #238.
Oisin Compare
In 2020 they stood at #568 and #766 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2021 that had become #650 and #433.
Hudson Compare
In 2011 they stood at #375 and #401 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #460 and #277.
Rian Compare
In 2018 they stood at #590 and #711 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2019 that had become #655 and #493.

Moved the opposite way to Cai

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cai went from #435 to #664 while Albie went from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cai went from #435 to #664 while Alfie went from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cai went from #435 to #664 while Alfred went from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cai went from #435 to #664 while Archie went from #192 to #10.

Moved the same way as Cai

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cai went from #435 to #664 and Aaron from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cai went from #435 to #664 and Adam from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cai went from #435 to #664 and Alan from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cai went from #435 to #664 and Alex from #43 to #171.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #214 in England and Wales in 2006. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Cai

Cai at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Cai across 4 official records

Cai by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Cai appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Cai

Cai and the names beside it

Cai moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cai

Moved the opposite way to Cai

Moved the same way as Cai

Cai at a glance

Cai across 4 official records

Cai by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Cai appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Cai

Cai and the names beside it

Cai moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cai

Moved the opposite way to Cai

Moved the same way as Cai