Kawai

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Kawai is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English surname6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Australia, Nigeria, United Kingdom

  Languages: English, German

  Also written Ka-Wai, Kawaī

• Portuguese surname12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Spain, Mexico

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Ka-Wai, Käwäi, Kawaì, Kawaí, Kawaī

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Ka-Wai

• Chinese surname2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan

  Also written Ka-Wai

• Swahili surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Nigeria, Kenya, Canada

  Also written Kawaï

• Thai surname27 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Thailand, Laos

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written กาหวาย, กาไว, กาวีย์, กาไวย์, คาวา

• Indonesian surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, United States

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Kawaī

46 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Kawai is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Hawaiian, a male or female given name from Hawaiian

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In mch, tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Kawai Gyokudōb. 1873JPJapanese Nihonga painter (1873-1957)
• Masao Kawaib. 1924JPJapanese zoologist, children's writer, doctor of science (1924–2021)
• Nobuo Kawaib. 1932JPJapanese actor and seiyū (1932-2006)
• Kenji Kawaib. 1957JPJapanese composer
• Kazumi Kawaib. 1964JPJapanese actor and singer (1964-1997)
• Sonoko Kawaib. 1965JPJapanese singer, actress
• Eri Kawaib. 1965JPJapanese singer-songwriter (1965-2008)
• Honami Suzukib. 1966JPnot in their usual nameJapanese actress
• Risako Kawaib. 1994JPJapanese amateur wrestler
• Yukako Kawaib. 1997JPJapanese amateur wrestler (1997-)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Where does the name Kawai come from?

variously written, the original meaning is ‘meeting of (two) rivers’. An ancient family by this name is listed in the Shinsen shojiroku. Recorded by Dictionary of American Family Names.

What does the name Kawai mean?

Recorded meaning: variously written, the original meaning is ‘meeting of (two) rivers’.

In which country does Kawai have the most bearers?

Mondonomo estimates about 83 thousand people named Kawai in Japan, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled kawai.

How common is the name Kawai?

In the United States, the national register counted 769 people named Kawai in 2010, about 1 in 433 thousand residents.

How common is Kawai compared with other names?

In Japan, Kawai is the 350th most common surname of 142,159 surnames recorded there.