Deanna loved the name Kai for a long time. I always thought Kai sounded like a good name for a super-chill guy who loves going barefoot, so I was cool with it. Then I learned a bit about what it meant.
In Hawaiian it means ocean. The memory of a dear friend who loved the ocean kind of sealed the deal for me.
Kai is apparently a pretty multicultural name and seems to mean a lot of things in a lot of languages- in Welsh, which is where Rhys’ name has roots, it means ‘Keeper of the Keys’ which has a cool adventurey ring to it. It means fire in Scottish, and food in Māori.
In Japanese it means shell, but also open and restore-two values I hold pretty sacred.
Kai’s middle name, Noam, is a masculine variation of my mom’s name, Naomi, which means pleasant.
I thought Kai’s mural should definitely incorporate some ocean elements, and since he has island heritage, I had a lot to work with! Bonus fact: Deanna made me redo the Philippine Eagle since she thought my first take looked too much like a creepy plague doctor in a Venetian beak-mask.
Kai's Poster