Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Honest opinions on Kai?

154 replies

Stripes123 · 01/09/2016 13:23

Hi Smile new here!

We both (my husband and I) have a very mixed heritage.

My husband is Japanese/Chinese.

I'm Scottish/English.

It means so many beautiful things, from each different culture. It also works really well in all 4.

What are your honest opinions on the name? It just seems so fresh, handsome and relatively unusual!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
Heratnumber7 · 01/09/2016 17:23

Cai (Welsh) is much nicer than Kai. Even though it's pronounced the same way.

Brokenbiscuit · 01/09/2016 17:20

Personally I like Kai but I speak Japanese so it has less of the Rooney factor for me

I also speak Japanese so maybe that's why it sounds ok to me. Tbh, I don't even know what the Rooney connection is - I assume the footballer has a child called Kai?

Don't like Kobe tbh OP. Sounds strange to me as a person's name.

I also don't get why the OP's DS needs to look like his dad in order to be called Kai!Confused

fluentinsarcasm · 01/09/2016 16:22

FWIW I love pp suggestion of Miko with your surname.. very cool.

Ankleswingers · 01/09/2016 15:49

Nope, don't like it. Not at all.

pieceofpurplesky · 01/09/2016 15:46

How about Kaito? Or Hiro

Original poster
Stripes123 · 01/09/2016 15:42

Why does he have to look like his dad? Hmm

OP posts:
BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 01/09/2016 15:41

I don't think user realised it'd caused such a massive stir.

Tiffany101 · 01/09/2016 15:41

Kai is good if your kid looks like his father.
Otherwise go for any good English name.

fruitboxjury · 01/09/2016 15:37

What about Tom, short for Tomohiro, Tomohiko etc. Personally I like Kai but I speak Japanese so it has less of the Rooney factor for me

user1471734618 · 01/09/2016 15:36

oh gosh sorry I must have missed that.

DoggyDay · 01/09/2016 15:35

User, I don't think it's right to say things like that, especially after the awful thread. The poor woman's whole life was exposed on Facebook and people were ripping the shot out of her poor son's name. It wasn't nice at all.

user1471734618 · 01/09/2016 15:34

god calling a child 'Teddie-Blue' is akin to child abuse.

AndDontCallMeShirley · 01/09/2016 15:33

I know a couple of Kais. Love the name

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 01/09/2016 15:30

user, Teddie-Blue was the cause of much baby name controversy on here, and it descended into quite an ugly bunfight.

I feel like a bitch for bringing his name up, but it was an extreme example of how a kid's name affects how people judge.

EssentialHummus · 01/09/2016 15:30

user - a poster started a thread asking for suggestions for a sibling to her son Teddie-Blue, only for another poster to find that a friend/acquaintance of the first poster had started a thread shortly after T-B was named, wondering what the hell her friend was thinking to name her kid that.

DoggyDay · 01/09/2016 15:28

I know Sad I thought that poster was joking, right from the first thread. I thought it was a joke the whole time, until I saw the Facebook page Sad

I actually like Kai, and with a Japanese surname, I don't think people will judge it at all.

user1471734618 · 01/09/2016 15:26

who is Teddie-Blue?

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 01/09/2016 15:24

Is it just me who thinks of poor old Teddie-Blue here? Bless him. This is purely an example, but that kid may well grow up to be a senior medical consultant, a highly regarded academic, or a particularly powerful lawyer - his name alone doesn't prevent any of that from happening. That's down to him as a person.

Sadly, his name WILL put people off, because that's the power of a name. It's immediate, people judge straight away purely because of it, especially in the U.K.

EssentialHummus · 01/09/2016 15:20

...and freckled Grin

EssentialHummus · 01/09/2016 15:19

I think it depends, Beauty (and broken). Chardonnai-Neveah Wood might have an uphill battle to prove that she's bright and able, but a Japanese kid with a Japanese name? I don't think he'll face the same prejudice.

FreckledLeopard · 01/09/2016 15:13

As much as it would be nice to live in a world where people were only judged on merit, unfortunately that's not the case. I've known of companies going through CVs and throwing away those where they judged that the people had the 'wrong' name, regardless of merit.

Certain names attract certain negative stereotypes and Kai, like it or not, is one of them.

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 01/09/2016 15:13

Your ds will be judged on his own merits, not on his name.

Not always true, I'm afraid.

Brokenbiscuit · 01/09/2016 15:09

I think Kai works well for your family and your heritage. Ignore the "chavvy" comments. Your ds will be judged on his own merits, not on his name.

vvviola · 01/09/2016 15:07

I'd consider Kobe a bit odd from the Japanese perspective. Would it not be a bit like naming your child Glasgow?

froomeonthebroom · 01/09/2016 15:03

Kobe? Like the beef?

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.