Likely related to Micaiah or Micah, from Hebrew meaning who is like God?
Michai is a variant form of Michael, one of the most enduring names in the entire Western tradition, derived from the Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el), meaning "Who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expressing divine incomparability.
Michael is one of the archangels in both Jewish and Christian scripture, the warrior angel who leads the heavenly host against the forces of darkness in the Book of Revelation, and his name became one of the most widely given in the Christian world from the medieval period onward. Michai follows a pattern of phonetic and orthographic variation common in Eastern European naming traditions, particularly in Romanian, where Mihai is the standard form and is one of the most beloved names in the country, borne by Mihai Eminescu, Romania's greatest national poet, and by multiple rulers including Mihai the Brave, who briefly united the Romanian principalities in 1600. The spelling Michai splits the difference between the Romanian Mihai and the more familiar Michael of Western Europe, creating a form with a distinctly transnational feel.
In contemporary English-speaking contexts, Michai is relatively rare, giving it the appeal of novelty while its parent name Michael remains instantly recognizable. It reads as simultaneously old and fresh — the ancient question of divine incomparability encoded in a spelling that feels modern and multicultural, well suited to a generation comfortable navigating multiple cultural inheritances at once.