The baby name Banai is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /baˈnaɪ/ (bah-NAI).
Banai is Hebrew in Origin.
The baby name Banai is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /baˈnaɪ/ (bah-NAI).
Banai is Hebrew in Origin.
Banai is a cross-cultural given name with distinct roots. In Hebrew (בנאי), it derives from the root b-n-h “to build,” literally meaning “builder” and best known as an occupational surname; in modern Israel it occasionally appears as a unisex given name. Historical visibility comes from the prominent Banai family of performers, reinforcing the name’s cultural resonance. Variants by transliteration include Banay, Bannai, and Bana’i; related Hebrew forms include Bani and Benaiah/Benaya.
In South Asia, Banai is also the name of a pastoral goddess, the beloved consort of the Deccan folk deity Khandoba. Among Marathi-speaking communities, Banai (also called Banubai as an honorific) is used for girls to honor this tradition rather than for its literal meaning. This dual heritage gives Banai a compact, modern sound with layers of meaning - craft and creation in Hebrew, devotion and folk memory in the Indian context.
Banai is vanishingly rare. We count just 28 recorded uses of it worldwide, from 17 countries.
Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.
| Country | Gender | Year | Rank | Born | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CM | 0 | #56 | 1 | 2,592 | |
| HU | 0 | #115 | 1 | 1,675 | |
| HU | Boys | 0 | #174 | 1 | 3,954 |
| HU | Girls | 0 | #225 | 1 | 3,308 |
| TW | Girls | 0 | #288 | 2 | 8,139 |
| PS | Boys | 0 | #561 | 1 | 10,655 |
| IR | Boys | 0 | #565 | 1 | 10,162 |
| CM | Boys | 0 | #575 | 1 | 12,054 |
| IL | Boys | 0 | #625 | 1 | 10,983 |
| QA | Boys | 0 | #743 | 1 | 18,093 |
| SY | 0 | #767 | 1 | 11,684 | |
| KW | Boys | 0 | #806 | 1 | 18,755 |
| NG | Girls | 0 | #826 | 1 | 15,093 |
| OM | Boys | 0 | #918 | 1 | 17,948 |
| CO | Boys | 0 | #981 | 1 | 15,656 |
| IN | Boys | 0 | #1,038 | 2 | 16,750 |
| MY | Girls | 0 | #1,072 | 1 | 24,821 |
| MA | 0 | #1,195 | 5 | 20,986 | |
| DZ | 0 | #1,232 | 3 | 20,130 | |
| SA | Boys | 0 | #1,691 | 1 | 28,008 |
Banai is popular in 17 countries — most recent births per country:
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