Throughout the world, Balai (Balan 
, Balai 
, Bale ) is a widespread mostly male, but uncommonly feminine first name. The first name Balai is habitual in Romania, where it is quite a common epicene name, Oman, where it is quite a common boy's name, and Qatar, where it is quite a rare male name. In absolute terms, it most frequently occurs in India, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. Also, Balai is the last name as well as the forename.
| VARIANT | COUNTRY |
|---|---|
| Balan | Romania, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, India |
| Balai | Romania, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Philippines, India |
| Bale | Romania, Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico, India |
| Balye | Turkey, India, Nigeria, Philippines |
Balai is also a name for the fictitious and mythical characters: .
De, Dolai, Dutta, Ghosh, Mandal, Maiiti, Mahato, Mondal, Sardar, Sarkar, Samant, Barman, Biswas, Naskar, Halder, Haldar, Santara, Samanta, Debnath, Haladar, Adhikari, Karmakar, Patra, Bauri, Bagdi, Basak, Mal, Bag, Pal, Ray, Roy, Dey, Das, Maji, Saha, Sing, Pramanik, Bera, Jana, Tudu, Mandi, Manna, Malik, Maity, Maiti, Majhi, Murmu, Singh, Giri, and Chakraborty