Ai (あい)

Ai is read あい and has 2 beats. Our data lists 5 spellings: 愛, 藍, 亜以, 亜伊 and 亜位. All five are feminine. Some of them are on our hand-reviewed list of everyday names.

Reading

あ·い (2 beats)

Kanji spellings

5 in our data

Gender

Feminine

Source

Hand-reviewed list of everyday names and JMnedict, the open name dictionary

Kanji spellings of Ai

One sound can be written with different kanji. Each spelling below is a different name on paper.

  • 愛
    あい
    CommonFeminine

    Love

  • 藍
    あい
    CommonFeminine

    Indigo

  • 亜以
    あい
    Feminine

    Chosen for sound: these kanji add no meaning of their own.

    • 亜(あ)— chosen for sound
    • 以(い)— chosen for sound
  • 亜伊
    あい
    Feminine

    Chosen for sound: these kanji add no meaning of their own.

    • 亜(あ)— chosen for sound
    • 伊(い)— chosen for sound
  • 亜位
    あい
    Feminine

    Rank

    • 亜(あ)— chosen for sound
    • 位(い)— rank

The kanji in Ai

What each kanji means on its own, and in how many of the spellings above it appears.

  • 亜chosen for sound3 spellings
  • 愛love1 spelling
  • 藍indigo1 spelling
  • 以chosen for sound1 spelling
  • 伊chosen for sound1 spelling
  • 位rank1 spelling

Ai with common surnames

Full names with a different spelling and surname on each card. Tap a card for the kanji breakdown.

Ai on our lists

Topic pages that include a spelling of this name.

Short Japanese Girl NamesJapanese Names Starting with aAesthetic Japanese Name TemplatesShort Japanese NamesMeaningful Japanese NamesCommon Japanese First Names

Questions about Ai

Is Ai a boy's or a girl's name?

In our data every spelling of Ai is feminine.

What does Ai mean?

Ai is a sound, so the meaning comes from the kanji: 愛 reads as "love", 藍 reads as "indigo" and 亜位 reads as "rank". Those come from what each kanji means by itself, and parents may have had a fuller picture in mind.

How many ways can Ai be written in kanji?

Our data lists 5: 愛, 藍, 亜以, 亜伊 and 亜位. Other spellings exist, so ask how a person writes their own name before you write it for them.

How do you pronounce Ai?

あい is 2 beats: あ · い. Give every beat the same length and keep vowels short and clear; Japanese has no stressed syllable the way English does.

Where this comes from

The spellings are from our hand-reviewed list of everyday names and from JMnedict, the open Japanese name dictionary. Meanings are built from what each kanji means on its own, so they describe the characters, not what a particular family had in mind.

How we check names · Content last reviewed: 2026-11-08.

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