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Wai

Boy / Girl name · 109 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Wai: 109 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to both boys and girls, peaking at 9 births in 1984.

Wai draws from Chinese origins, where it means “outside” or “beyond,” and from Thai, where it signifies the respectful hand-gesture of the same name. In Scotland, the name appears sparingly in birth records, often within families of East Asian heritage. Notable bearers include Hong Kong footballer Wai Man and Thai singer Wai Wai, while the name also surfaces in places such as Wai, a town in India, though its etymological link there is unrelated. An interesting note is that Wai can be a variant of the English name Way or a short form of Chinese compound names like Wai-keung, giving it a quiet versatility across cultures.