[identity profile] purple-gaze.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] babynames
What do you think of Kai for a girl?

Do you think of it as more masculine or feminine?
Or does it genuinely work for both?

Do you pronounce it to rhyme with eye, like Kay, or another way?

Date: 2006-10-25 04:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sarahrose.livejournal.com
To me, it's a girls' name that rhymes with eye.

Date: 2006-10-25 04:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ewaeva.livejournal.com
Kai is a boy's name. It rhymes with eye.

Apparently it's also a feminine name in Swedish and Hawaiian (behindthename.com), but I've only ever heard of it for guys.

Date: 2006-10-25 04:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] arbus.livejournal.com
its a masculine name to me, rhyming with eye.

i like it a lot for a boy. i dont like the idea of it on a girl, and think people would probably tend to mispronounce it as kay on a girl.

Date: 2006-10-25 04:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] screaming--pink.livejournal.com
Rhymes with eye. Otherwise I'd spell it Kay.. like my dog's middle name.

Date: 2006-10-25 04:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] poespretty.livejournal.com
I think of it as a boy's name and rhyming with eye.

I could see it though as a girl, though more of a nn to something like Kaia for instance.

Date: 2006-10-25 05:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scouty.livejournal.com
kai is a boy's name
it rhymes with eye

Date: 2006-10-25 05:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rubytitania.livejournal.com
To me, Kai is a boy's name and it rhymes with eye. I think it would be odd on a girl, but then I don't generally like the whole "boys' names on girls" thing.

Date: 2006-10-25 06:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] trissyd.livejournal.com
Kai is my boyfriends name, so to me, totally a guys name... although it is apparently uni-sex. It rhymes with "eye" as everyone has already mentioned. I do think that Kaia & Kaira are beautiful girls names that are similar though.

Date: 2006-10-25 06:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] darabelle.livejournal.com
I read Kai as rhyming with "eye" because I knew a Kae (pronounced like "Kay").

Date: 2006-10-25 06:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] darabelle.livejournal.com
And Kae is a woman, btw.

Date: 2006-10-25 06:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xcuore.livejournal.com
to me Kai/Kaj is a boysname
it doesnt ryme with eye and its also not pronounced as Kay
i dont know an english word with rymes with my way of saying Kai.
It's veryvery short pronounced in Dutch.

Date: 2006-10-25 09:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] secret-x-stars.livejournal.com
would this help you describe the pronunciation at all?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet_for_Dutch

I'm really curious to know how it's pronounced!!

Date: 2006-10-25 09:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] secret-x-stars.livejournal.com
wait. i know that Dutch J's are like english Y's (rhyming with 'why'). but in english, when the Y meets the A, it turns into a sound rhyming with either 'eye' or 'kay.' Is the pronunciation in Dutch sound like if the Y retained the 'why' sound?

...did that make sense at all? lmao

I'M JUST SO CURIOUS NOW.

Date: 2006-10-26 08:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xcuore.livejournal.com
yess, the j is like Y
the k is pronounced like this; press the tongue to the top of your mouth (the palate?) and then take it down (so you get a kind of click). you dont use your voice then. (you dont want to know how often ive said "K" now)

the -ai part rhymes with why indeed so you get a sort of Khy

Date: 2006-10-26 08:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xcuore.livejournal.com
oh i forgot to say; it's the BACK of your tongue, if you use the "first part of your tongue" you get the "T".

Date: 2006-10-26 08:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xcuore.livejournal.com
this is even easier;
first is the K of caKe
ai is like why/my without the w/m

lmao:P

Date: 2006-10-26 08:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] secret-x-stars.livejournal.com
oh, so your K is like an english G?

that makes sense now, I think. Thank you! :D

Date: 2006-10-26 08:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xcuore.livejournal.com
meh its more like CaKe, Cute, Crisps, Crystal etc.

The G of Good looks a lot like it, but you use your voice to say it. You dont use your voice for the C of Crystal. The C is almost the same as the dutch K :)



Date: 2006-10-26 09:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] secret-x-stars.livejournal.com
Ohhhhh okay. lmao thank you for bearign with me. this sort of thing really interests me. :)

Date: 2006-10-27 12:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xcuore.livejournal.com
no problem :)
if you want to know another pronountion, just ask me:)

Date: 2006-10-25 06:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] glitterberrys.livejournal.com
Too me, boy's name. Rhymes with "eye."

Date: 2006-10-25 08:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dosequisgirl.livejournal.com
Kai rhymes with eye, it's a boy's name.

Date: 2006-10-25 10:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liss07.livejournal.com
It rhymes with eye and is a boy's name to me :)

Date: 2006-10-25 10:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] imyourrapunzel.livejournal.com
Kai is my name (actually Kailani but most people call me Kai) and I am a girl. I think it genuinely works for both male and female. It rhymes with eye.
I met a woman who has a daughter named Kai and her daughter keeps saying "You gave me a boy's name!" which I think is sad. More people need to name their little girls Kai!

Date: 2006-10-25 10:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hitzpink.livejournal.com
Rhymes with eye and is definitely a boys name.

Date: 2006-10-25 10:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] unfshine.livejournal.com
Kai rhymes with eye, and is a boy's name.

Kaia is a nice girl's name though.

Date: 2006-10-26 12:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] queen-mab.livejournal.com
Ermm.. I don't think Kai is a boy's name.. at all. Which is weird because it seems to be for everyone else. It just sounds.. very feminine to me. And I also agree it rhymes with eye. It's probably because I've known Kaias and Kylas who have gone by Kai. Kaia used to be one of my favorite names. What do you think of that one?

Date: 2006-10-26 04:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sisterjoy.livejournal.com
There's a Kai on 'Biggest Loser' from Alaska and she's a girl. First time I ever heard the name so I think of it as a girl's name.

Date: 2006-10-26 09:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bunnsidhe.livejournal.com
I married into Scandinavians and know this as a male name (at least in Danish). It rhymes with eye. I'd have to ask my husband if there is a feminine version.

Date: 2006-10-26 03:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anapology.livejournal.com
rhymes with eye.
I went to school with a Kia, pronounced the same. Silly, obviously he was forever correcting people saying it Kee-Uh.

Date: 2006-10-26 05:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sotypical42483.livejournal.com
To me Kai (rhymes with eye) is all boy. I really don't care for it period though. Kaia would be for girls.

Date: 2006-10-26 08:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kati-d.livejournal.com
Kai is definetly all boy to me. I love it but would never use it for my own children. I think for a girl Kailie would work as an alternative creative spelling for Kylie.

Date: 2006-10-26 09:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sageharper.livejournal.com
I know a little girl Kairin 'Kai', suppose it'd work for either gender but it's more common for boys.
Said to rhyme with eye.

Date: 2006-10-27 01:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] corielcries.livejournal.com
It is the name of a contestant on The Biggest Loser (also a woman). I really don't like it on a girl unless it is only a nickname, pronounce to rhyme with eye.

Date: 2006-10-28 11:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] laura-anne.livejournal.com
Boys name rhyming with eye.
I think it can be a good nickname for a girl, but not good as a given name - my best friend's sister is Caroline nn. Kai.
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