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Dai as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Dai

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The baby name Dai is a Male name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /daɪ/ (rhymes with "eye").

Dai is Welsh in Origin.

Gender: Male
Syllables: 1.0
Origin: Welsh
Pronunciation: /daɪ/ (rhymes with "eye")

What is the meaning of the name Dai ?

The baby name Dai is a Male name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /daɪ/ (rhymes with "eye").

Dai is Welsh in Origin.

Dai is a compact, cross-cultural given name. In Wales, Dai is the familiar short form of Dafydd (the Welsh form of David), long used as a friendly everyday name and independent given name, attested since the early modern period. Through David’s Hebrew origin (Dawid), it carries the meaning “beloved.” In Japan, Dai is a masculine name or name element written with various kanji; the most popular, 大, conveys “great, big;” others like 代 (“generation, era”) or 台 (“platform, terrace”) shift the nuance.

Related Welsh variants and cognates include Dafydd, Dewi, David, and Dave; Dai is common across Wales and in the Welsh diaspora. In Japanese, Dai appears in compounds such as Daiki, Daichi, Daisuke, and Daigo. A separate Chinese surname Dai (戴/代) exists, and Vietnamese Đại “great” is a parallel in sense; outside their scripts these may be romanized as Dai.

Dai has the following similar or variant Names

Celebrity babies named Dai

Name Last Name(s) Mother Mother famous for Fame Level Father Father famous for Fame Level
Dai Watanabe Ken Watanabe television actor

Dai – Popularity by country

Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.

Country Gender Year Rank Born of
MA Boys 0 #5 4 26
BN 0 #31 2 2,297
ID 0 #39 1 2,238
JP 0 #67 11 4,057
CN 0 #76 10 3,857
LT 0 #86 3 949
TW 0 #97 7 4,523
QA 0 #105 2 7,011
BN Girls 0 #110 5 5,459
PH 0 #110 1 5,607
KW 0 #121 1 5,216
CY Boys 0 #131 1 3,473
IQ 0 #132 2 3,533
ID Boys 0 #135 1 4,130
BN Boys 0 #137 3 6,332
LT Boys 0 #145 7 2,166
BW Girls 0 #151 1 4,216
AR 0 #164 23 2,915
UY 0 #166 12 2,477
PR Girls 0 #167 1 3,171
LT Girls 0 #175 20 1,904
MT Boys 0 #179 1 4,064
JP Boys 0 #181 121 7,909
CZ 0 #186 1 3,154
AE 0 #187 1 10,220
LU Girls 0 #188 3 4,850
DK 0 #206 1 5,198
SI Boys 0 #211 1 3,402
MO Boys 0 #212 12 5,842
AO Girls 0 #217 1 4,575
LU Boys 0 #219 2 4,970
TW Boys 0 #224 18 7,111
AL Girls 0 #227 1 4,141
IR 0 #231 1 4,221
MO Girls 0 #234 18 7,056
NA Girls 0 #237 1 7,146
JP Girls 0 #249 3 6,592
PT 0 #250 1 4,161
CN Boys 0 #251 71 9,639
SG 0 #259 11 11,010
TW Girls 0 #259 18 8,139
AF Boys 0 #274 1 3,535
CN Girls 0 #279 71 8,829
KZ Boys 0 #295 2 6,578
AR Girls 0 #297 443 8,289
AL Boys 0 #302 2 5,122
CZ Boys 0 #303 3 6,530
QA Girls 0 #306 11 15,378
SA 0 #312 1 10,560
BR 0 #316 30 5,969
KZ Girls 0 #328 5 5,862
DK Boys 0 #331 2 7,401
GH Girls 0 #336 2 6,973
HK 0 #337 12 8,483
JO Girls 0 #337 3 7,570
PL Boys 0 #340 1 6,459
MY 0 #348 7 12,352
SD Girls 0 #357 2 7,678
MU Girls 0 #362 1 8,539
MU Boys 0 #369 1 8,477
EG 0 #377 24 6,387
PH Girls 0 #380 11 13,098
PT Boys 0 #380 2 7,951
YE 0 #396 3 8,639
France Boys 2005 #403 3 2,632
BO 0 #406 3 6,868
PH Boys 0 #406 3 11,440
UY Boys 0 #412 2 5,922
OM Girls 0 #418 7 15,987
UY Girls 0 #422 89 6,731
CL 0 #434 1 6,867
MX 0 #443 3 8,339
PT Girls 0 #463 9 7,952
HK Boys 0 #464 64 12,905
SD Boys 0 #465 2 10,523
PA Girls 0 #468 14 9,861
ZA 0 #473 2 14,421
AR Boys 0 #475 9 7,628
IQ Girls 0 #483 22 11,303
RU Boys 0 #488 18 12,621
SG Girls 0 #498 89 18,916
KW Girls 0 #499 17 19,177
EG Girls 0 #502 578 14,742
PA Boys 0 #505 1 9,305
CO 0 #508 3 7,768
RU Girls 0 #519 5 11,913
CR Girls 0 #522 11 11,342
AE Girls 0 #538 16 20,968
GT Girls 0 #541 1 7,500
PS Girls 0 #546 2 10,981
LY 0 #555 5 12,703
IR Boys 0 #557 9 10,162
PS Boys 0 #560 2 10,655
HK Girls 0 #565 51 16,104
BH 0 #585 3 17,937
SG Boys 0 #598 100 17,960
BO Girls 0 #602 10 9,488
BO Boys 0 #619 4 9,244
IL Boys 0 #622 4 10,983
IL Girls 0 #641 5 11,648
IN Girls 0 #649 6 13,121
Finland Boys 2026 #669 14 3,552
BR Girls 0 #689 259 12,708
IQ Boys 0 #689 9 13,071
LB 0 #690 1 13,263
CL Boys 0 #696 5 13,390
IT 0 #705 10 4,183
BR Boys 0 #735 17 12,213
QA Boys 0 #737 7 18,093
KW Boys 0 #754 16 18,755
SY 0 #762 6 11,684
TN 0 #803 27 13,765
NG Girls 0 #821 6 15,093
Germany Girls 0 #822 17 4,949
EG Boys 0 #828 59 15,035
CL Girls 0 #829 23 14,098
SA Girls 0 #834 102 25,931
United States Boys 2015 #879 7 7,337
CO Boys 0 #897 24 15,656
OM Boys 0 #910 9 17,948
Spain Boys 0 #911 20 5,610
United States Girls 2020 #912 6 8,768
PE Boys 0 #919 8 14,506
PE Girls 0 #929 15 14,861
NL Boys 0 #932 20 5,873
Germany Boys 0 #936 17 5,697
MY Girls 0 #949 46 24,821
Spain Girls 0 #958 26 5,561
MX Boys 0 #969 14 16,355
MY Boys 0 #982 130 25,439
NG Boys 0 #998 4 16,906
CO Girls 0 #1,030 49 16,140
IN Boys 0 #1,036 4 16,750
DZ 0 #1,059 118 20,130
AE Boys 0 #1,079 14 22,615
MA 0 #1,105 24 20,986
MX Girls 0 #1,149 35 17,781
ZA Boys 0 #1,168 11 25,619
ZA Girls 0 #1,235 2 25,928
TR 0 #1,247 8 19,440
IT Boys 0 #1,397 75 10,046
IT Girls 0 #1,399 48 9,415
SA Boys 0 #1,554 61 28,008

Dai is popular in 71 countries — most recent births per country:

United States
France
AE
AF
AL

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People also ask about Dai

Dai is predominantly a boy's name.
Dai is a one syllable name, pronounced /daɪ/ (rhymes with "eye").
Common nicknames and spelling variations include Dafydd, Daf, David, Davy, Davie and Dave.
Across languages, Dai has these equivalents: David (English/Hebrew), Dafydd (Welsh), Dawid (Polish), Davide (Italian), David (Spanish), and 2 more.
Yes — Dai ranked #403 in France in 2005, and appears in official birth registries across 3 countries.
Dai ranks highest in France (#403 in 2005).
Yes — at least 1 celebrity couple has chosen Dai for their child, including Ken Watanabe.