Lai
Lai is a unisex given name: about 40% of people named Lai are men and 60% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.
This name is used for both men and women without a strong lean either way.
- Verdict
- Unisex
- Male / female split
- 40% male / 60% female
- Confidence
- Medium (8 to 63 weighted country observations)
- Most common in
- Vietnam, China, United States
- US births since 1880
- 25 male / 232 female
- Data
- nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
- Updated
- 2026-09-11
How to address Lai
To address Lai when you do not know their gender, use the full name with no title: "Dear Lai," in English, "Guten Tag Lai," in German. About 40% of people named Lai are men and 60% are women, so a gendered salutation is close to a coin flip, and the neutral form above is the safer choice.
Ready-made greetings in six languages
English
Dear Lai,
German
Guten Tag Lai,
French
Bonjour Lai,
Spanish
Estimado/a Lai:
Chinese
Lai您好：
Japanese
Lai様
English
Hi Lai,
German
Hi Lai,
French
Salut Lai,
Spanish
Hola Lai,
Chinese
Lai你好：
Japanese
Laiさん
This is a statistical estimate, not a statement about the gender, identity or correct form of address of any particular person.
Country breakdown
| Country | How common | Usually | Male share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | rare | unisex name | 50% |
| China | rare | unisex name | 50% |
| United States | rare | woman's name | 10% |
United States birth data
25 male · 232 female · 257 births recorded
Since 1980: 11% male.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lai a male or female name?
Lai is a unisex given name: about 40% of people named Lai are men and 60% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.
How do I address Lai in an email?
To address Lai when you do not know their gender, use the full name with no title: "Dear Lai," in English, "Guten Tag Lai," in German. About 40% of people named Lai are men and 60% are women, so a gendered salutation is close to a coin flip, and the neutral form above is the safer choice.
Is Lai a unisex name?
Lai is a unisex name: 40% of people named Lai are men. The split stays close across most of the countries in the data.
Related names
Sources
Gender by country: nam_dict, the c't first-names dictionary by Joerg Michael, roughly 44,000 names across 55 countries, licensed GFDL. US frequencies: United States Social Security Administration baby-name data, public domain. Method: how we classify names. Full dataset: data & licences. Data built 2026-09-11.
DearWho, "Is Lai a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/lai (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.
BibTeX
@misc{dearwho_lai,
title = {Is Lai a male or female name?},
author = {{DearWho}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/lai},
note = {Data: nam_dict (GFDL), US SSA public domain}
}