Four of the most widely spoken Kainji languages are Tsuvadi (150,000), Cishingini and Tsishingini (100,000 each)—all from the Kambari branch; and Clela (C'lela, Lela) (100,000), of the Northwest Kainji branch.

In total, there were about one million speakers of Kainji languages (1990s estimate) in Nigeria.

Its broken distribution today is likely due to the historical northward expansion of the Nupoid languages.

[1] Proto-Kainji nominal prefixes:[2] The most divergent of the Kainji languages are Reshe, Laru and Lopa, which may form a branch together.

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:[7] This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 3.0 license.