Kael is a short modern name of uncertain origin; it is usually explained as a spelling of the Irish Cael, which means "slender", or as a short form of Kaelan, and it was helped by the character Kael in the 1988 fantasy film Willow. It has the one-syllable punch of Kai and Kade. Kael first reached the top 1000 in 2009, when it peaked at number 851, fell as low as number 2283 in 2022 and returned to the list in 2025 at number 903.