Sakai is a modern name of uncertain origin. It matches a Japanese surname and the port city of Sakai near Osaka, whose name means "border" or "boundary", but in American use it is more likely a fresh coinage built around the popular ending Kai, which means "sea" in Hawaiian. In the United States Sakai was almost unheard of in 2015, at number 13687, and has shot up to number 1398 in 2025, its highest rank so far.