In 2025, 626 US boys were named Makai, making it the 481st most common boys’ name of the year, up 52 places from #533 in 2024. That is 67 more than the 559 boys named Makai in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #481, reached in this year, 2025. That year also had the most boys given the name: 626. For comparison, it was #681 in 2015 and unranked in 1950.
Social Security card records list Makai in 33 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1989 with 5 babies. In all, 9,609 US babies have been given the name, 3.2% of them girls and 97% boys. Its busiest decade was the 2010s, with 4,052 babies named Makai.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 5,236 US boys were named Makai; the busiest of those years was 2025, with 626. In 2025 that was about 1 in 2,729 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Makai ranked highest in Hawaii in 2025, at #199 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Makaio (1,338 babies since 1880) and Makaya (1,021 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Maika, Makaiya and Mahkai are summarised on this page.