Kai Family History

Japanese: original meaning could be 貝 ‘shell’ but the name is written phonetically with two characters 甲斐 ‘tortoise shell’ and ‘beauty’. Though the surname is found mostly in the island of Kyūshū some families could have connections with the ancient province of Kai (now Yamanashi prefecture) in the mountains of central Honshū whose name is written with the two characters above.

Chinese: alternative Mandarin form of the surname 蓋 see Gai

Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 解 see Xie

Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 計 see Ji

Altered form or a rare variant of North German and Danish (and perhaps also of Dutch) Kay.