Dai (given name)

Dai is a Welsh masculine given name, a hypocorism of Dafydd or David, 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 (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
• Dai Fujikura (藤倉 大, born 1977), Japanese classical composer
• Dai Henwood (born 1978), New Zealand comedian
• Dai Jin (1388–1462), Chinese painter
• Dai Le (born 1968), Vietnamese-born Australian politician
• Dai Li (1897–1946), Chinese spymaster
• Dai Matsumoto (松本 大, born 1959), Japanese voice actor
• Dai Dai N'tab (born 1994), Dutch long track speed skater
• Dai Nagao, Japanese composer, musician and producer
• Dai Oketani (桶谷 大, born 1977), Japanese basketball coach
• Dai Qing (born 1941), Chinese journalist
• Dai Satō (佐藤 大, born 1969), Japanese screenwriter and musician
• Dai Sijie (born 1954), Chinese-French author and filmmaker
• Dai Vernon (1894–1992), Canadian magician
• Dai Wai Tsun (born 1999), Hong Kong-born Chinese professional footballer
• Dai Vernon (1894–1992), Canadian magician
• Dai Ward (1934–1996), Wales international footballer
• Dai Xi (1801–1860), Chinese painter
• Dai Yi (1926–2024), Chinese historian
• Dai Yongge, Chinese businessman and entrepreneur
• Dai Young (born 1967), Wales international rugby union player
• Dai Zhen (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
• Dai Bread, a bigamist character in Dylan Thomas' 1954 Radio play Under Milk Wood.
• 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 serial The Green Death
• Dai Greatcoat, a character from David Jones' In Parenthesis
• Dai Takabayashi (高林 ダイ), a fictional character from the anime series Super Doll Licca-chan
• Dai Station, a character from the Welsh animation series Ivor the Engine
• Dai Bando, a minor character in Richard Llewellyn's novel How Green Was My Valley, played by Rhys Williams in the John Ford film of the same name