Name Awesome

Dai

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Beloved, through David

Dai has been given to 212 babies in the U.S. since 1976. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1985, with 12 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 58% boys, 42% girls all-time.

Babies named Dai, 2015

1 in 529,000

Dai over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Dai over time

In 2025, Dai went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19762025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Dai: meaning, origin, and history

Beloved, through David

Welsh

What Dai means

Dai belongs to the name family reached through Dai → David. Its meaning is “beloved”.

Origin, language, and formation

Dai is used in English and Welsh. Its origins include Welsh.

Dai comes through Welsh Dai.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include David and Dafydd.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Dai is pronounced /daɪ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 122 boys were recorded with the name Dai between 1976 and 2015. Its highest annual count was 12 in 1985; its best national rank was #3,633 in 1985.

In the United States, 90 girls were recorded with the name Dai between 1978 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1999; its best national rank was #10,078 in 1978.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #13,830 in 2020 to #15,443 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Dai?

Dai had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2015, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2015
1 in 529,000
7 of 3,701,574 births
Among boys only
1 in 274,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2015
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
366,535 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Dai sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2015 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 366,535 children born in 2015 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Dai. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Dais were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Dai was born before 1991 — so the typical Dai is around 34 today.

Median birth year
1991
About 34 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
40.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
51.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
122
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 40.2% of all recorded uses (49).

Is Dai rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1985 (12)
Years since peak
40
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,633
1985

Where Dai is used

Across 1910–2025, Dai was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 3,486,540 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Dai has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Dai around the world

Where Dai ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2011–2012
    #4,805
    in 2012
  • France
    1988–2005
    #5,054
    in 2005
  • South Australia
    1951–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Dai by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,633
1985
Peak year
1985
12 that year
First recorded
1976
Last recorded
2015
All-time count
122
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#15,443
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,613
Best rank ever
#10,078
1978
Peak year
1999
8 that year
First recorded
1978
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
90
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Dai

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

OdaiDaireDaisonDairDaianDaitonDaidenDaivikDaikiDaironDaiyanDailyDaidDailDaionDailynDainDailenDairlDaineDaileyDailanDainelDaiwik

Sibling names for Dai

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Dai

Top names of 1985, Dai's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1985Boys' names starting with DWelsh Boy Names