Dai is a Welsh masculine given name, a

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

of Dafydd or

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, as well as a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Dai Ailian (1916–2006), Chinese dancer * Dai Andrews (born 1977), American performance and visual artist * Dai Bingguo (born 1941), Chinese politician and diplomat *

Dai Bradley David "Dai" Bradley (born 27 September 1953) is an English actor known for his debut role of Billy Casper in the critically acclaimed 1969 film '' Kes'', directed by Ken Loach. Early life David Bradley was born in the hamlet of Stubbs, near B ...

(born 1953), English actor * Dai Buell (1892-1939), American pianist and teacher * Dai Davies (1880–1944), Welsh footballer * Dai Davies (1948–2021), Welsh footballer * Dai Davies (born 1959), Welsh politician * Dai Greene (born 1986), a British hurdler *, Japanese classical composer * Dai Henwood (born 1978), New Zealand comedian *

Dai Jin Dai Jin (; 1388–1462) was a prominent leader in the early Ming Revival of the Ma-Xia, or too the style of landscape painting of the Southern Song, which came to be known as the Zhe School. Biography An account by Lang Ying (b. 1487) provid ...

(1388–1462), Chinese painter * Dai Le (born 1968), Vietnamese-born Australian politician *

Dai Li Dai Li (; 28 May 189717 March 1946), courtesy name Yunong, was a Chinese lieutenant general and spymaster. Dai was born in Jiangshan, Zhejiang and later studied at the Whampoa Military Academy, where Chiang Kai-shek served as Chief Commandant, ...

(1897–1946), Chinese spymaster *, Japanese voice actor * Dai Dai N'tab (born 1994), Dutch long track speed skater *

Dai Nagao Do As Infinity is a Japanese pop and rock band that formed in 1999 with three members: vocalist Tomiko Van, guitarist Ryo Owatari, and guitarist and composer Dai Nagao. The band's name is sometimes abbreviated as DAI, alluding to the fact tha ...

, Japanese composer, musician and producer *, Japanese basketball coach *

Dai Qing Fu Xiaoqing ( zh, s=傅小庆, born 24 August 1941), better known by her pen name Dai Qing ( zh, c=戴晴), is a journalist and activist for China-related issues; most significantly against the Three Gorges Dam Project. She left the Chinese Comm ...

(born 1941), Chinese journalist *, Japanese screenwriter and musician * Dai Sijie (born 1954), Chinese-French author and filmmaker *

Dai Vernon David Frederick Wingfield Verner (June 11, 1894August 21, 1992), better known by his stage names Dai Vernon (pronounced alternatively as "DIE" or as "DAY" as in David) or The Professor, was a Canadian magician. Vernon's sleight of hand techn ...

(1894–1992), Canadian magician * Dai Wai Tsun (born 1999), Hong Kong-born Chinese professional footballer *

(1894–1992), Canadian magician * Dai Ward (1934–1996), Wales international footballer * Dai Xi (1801–1860), Chinese painter *

Dai Yi Dai Yi (September 192624 January 2024) was a Chinese historian who specialized in the history of the Qing dynasty. He was a professor at Renmin University of China (RUC). He was also the honorary director of the university's Qing dynasty's histo ...

(1926–2024), Chinese historian * Dai Yongge, Chinese businessman and entrepreneur *

Dai Young David Young (born 26 July 1967) is a Welsh rugby union coach and former rugby union and rugby league player. He was most recently director of rugby at Cardiff Blues. A prop, he won 51 caps for Wales in rugby union between 1987 and 2002, three ...

(born 1967), Wales international rugby union player *

Dai Zhen Dai Zhen (, January 19, 1724 – July 1, 1777), courtesy name Shenxiu(慎修), art name Dongyuan(東原), was a Chinese philosopher of the Qing dynasty. Hailing from Xiuning, Anhui Dai was a versatile scholar who made great contributions to m ...

(1724–1777), Chinese philosopher

Fictional characters

*Dai, the title character in the manga series '' Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai'' *Dai Blackthorn, a character from the role-playing game

GURPS The ''Generic Universal Role Playing System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system published by Steve Jackson Games. The system is designed to run any genre using the same core mechanics. The core rules were first written by St ...

*Dai Bread, a bigamist character in

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

' 1954 Radio play

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh people, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The BBC commissioned the play, which was later adapted for the stage. The first public reading was in New York City in 1953. A Under Milk Wood (1972 film), f ...

. *Mrs Dai Bread One, Dai Bread's first wife. *Mrs Dai Bread Two, Dai Bread's second wife. *Dai Dickins, character in the ''Discworld'' novel '' Night Watch'', and martyr of the Glorious Revolution Twenty-Fifth of May *Dai Evans, character in the 1973 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' serial '' The Green Death'' *Dai Greatcoat, a character from David Jones' '' In Parenthesis'' *, a fictional character from the anime series ''

Super Doll Licca-chan is a Japanese anime television series based on the Licca-chan fashion doll, which ran on TV Tokyo in 1998–1999. Kodansha also serialized a manga based on the anime series in its monthly manga magazine ''Nakayoshi''. The story follows an o ...

'' *Dai Station, a character from the Welsh animation series ''

Ivor the Engine ''Ivor the Engine'' is a British cutout animation television series created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms company. It follows the adventures of a small green steam locomotive who lives in the "top left-hand corner of Wales ...

'' *Dai Bando, a minor character in Richard Llewellyn's novel ''

How Green Was My Valley ''How Green Was My Valley'' is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, narrated by Huw Morgan, the main character, about his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed that he based the book on his own experi ...

'', played by Rhys Williams in the

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

film of the same name {{given name Japanese masculine given names Masculine given names Welsh masculine given names Welsh given names