Infographic of May name meaning, which is “She who has the most,” from the Latin magnus, great, but more specifically from maximus, the greatest. Sometimes also used as a diminutive of Mary.
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May Name Popularity

How popular is the name May? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 — 551 0.1565%
1911 — 502 0.1348%
1912 — 690 0.1368%
1913 — 657 0.1159%
1914 — 734 0.1053%
1915 — 960 0.1057%
1916 — 909 0.0941%
1917 — 926 0.0926%
1918 — 935 0.0871%
1919 — 949 0.0906%
1920 — 933 0.0839%
1921 — 957 0.0836%
1922 — 832 0.0747%
1923 — 835 0.0746%
1924 — 839 0.0722%
1925 — 816 0.0722%
1926 — 731 0.0665%
1927 — 705 0.0637%
1928 — 681 0.0636%
1929 — 531 0.0513%
1930 — 507 0.0485%
1931 — 438 0.0444%
1932 — 402 0.0407%
1933 — 356 0.0382%
1934 — 322 0.0333%
1935 — 302 0.0311%
1936 — 259 0.0269%
1937 — 251 0.0255%
1938 — 219 0.0214%
1939 — 212 0.0208%
1940 — 236 0.0222%
1941 — 210 0.0187%
1942 — 234 0.0185%
1943 — 175 0.0134%
1944 — 192 0.0155%
1945 — 164 0.0134%
1946 — 131 0.0089%
1947 — 196 0.0117%
1948 — 172 0.0108%
1949 — 168 0.0104%
1950 — 135 0.0084%
1951 — 185 0.0109%
1952 — 132 0.0076%
1953 — 123 0.0069%
1954 — 155 0.0085%
1955 — 137 0.0074%
1956 — 114 0.006%
1957 — 70 0.0036%
1958 — 86 0.0046%
1959 — 101 0.0053%
1960 — 82 0.0043%
1961 — 68 0.0036%
1962 — 73 0.004%
1963 — 55 0.0031%
1964 — 59 0.0034%
1965 — 45 0.0028%
1966 — 43 0.0028%
1967 — 42 0.0028%
1968 — 45 0.003%
1969 — 52 0.0034%
1970 — 35 0.0022%
1971 — 55 0.0037%
1972 — 44 0.0032%
1973 — 47 0.0036%
1974 — 33 0.0025%
1975 — 41 0.0032%
1976 — 28 0.0022%
1977 — 38 0.0028%
1978 — 37 0.0028%
1979 — 61 0.0043%
1980 — 87 0.006%
1981 — 92 0.0063%
1982 — 109 0.0073%
1983 — 82 0.0056%
1984 — 71 0.0048%
1985 — 85 0.0056%
1986 — 76 0.005%
1987 — 56 0.0037%
1988 — 46 0.003%
1989 — 48 0.003%
1990 — 46 0.0028%
1991 — 42 0.0026%
1992 — 28 0.0018%
1993 — 50 0.0032%
1994 — 49 0.0032%
1995 — 48 0.0032%
1996 — 29 0.0019%
1997 — 44 0.003%
1998 — 30 0.002%
1999 — 38 0.0025%
2000 — 50 0.0033%
2001 — 46 0.0031%
2002 — 52 0.0035%
2003 — 34 0.0022%
2004 — 42 0.0028%
2005 — 46 0.003%
2006 — 41 0.0026%
2007 — 31 0.002%
2008 — 40 0.0026%
2009 — 23 0.0015%
2010 — 51 0.0035%
2011 — 38 0.0027%
2012 — 62 0.0044%
2013 — 62 0.0044%
2014 — 70 0.0048%
2015 — 63 0.0043%
2016 — 74 0.0051%
2017 — 80 0.0057%
2018 — 60 0.0044%
2019 — 75 0.0055%
2020 — 52 0.0041%
2021 — 54 0.0044%
2022 — 89 0.0067%
2023 — 90 0.007%

Alabama (AL)

Arkansas (AR)

Arizona (AZ)

California (CA)

Colorado (CO)

Connecticut (CT)

District of Columbia (DC)

Delaware (DE)

Florida (FL)

Georgia (GA)

Hawaii (HI)

Iowa (IA)

Idaho (ID)

Illinois (IL)

Indiana (IN)

Kansas (KS)

Kentucky (KY)

Louisiana (LA)

Massachusetts (MA)

Maryland (MD)

Maine (ME)

Michigan (MI)

Minnesota (MN)

Missouri (MO)

Mississippi (MS)

Montana (MT)

North Carolina (NC)

North Dakota (ND)

Nebraska (NE)

New Hampshire (NH)

New Jersey (NJ)

New Mexico (NM)

New York (NY)

Ohio (OH)

Oklahoma (OK)

Oregon (OR)

Pennsylvania (PA)

Rhode Island (RI)

South Carolina (SC)

South Dakota (SD)

Tennessee (TN)

Texas (TX)

Utah (UT)

Virginia (VA)

Vermont (VT)

Washington (WA)

Wisconsin (WI)

West Virginia (WV)

Wyoming (WY)

Data via SSA.gov.


Names Like May

If you like May, you’ll love these other names like May.


What names are variants of May?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name May.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Mae

The fifth month

English

Maelee

The fifth month

English

Maelynn

The fifth month

English

Maia

Great; mother

Greek

Maj

Great; mother; the fifth month

Greek

Mala

Woman from Magdala; the fifth month

Hebrew

Maya

Dream

Indian (Sanskrit)

Mayana

The fifth month

English

Maye

The fifth month

English

Mayleen

The fifth month

English

Maylene

The fifth month

English

Mei

The fifth month

English


What names sound like May?

If you like how May sounds, you might also like these names that sound like May.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Maiya

Rice valley

Japanese

Mayah

Great; mother

Greek

Mea

Scandinavian

Meya

Scandinavian

Mia

Dear

Scandinavian

Miah

Spanish

Miya

Temple

Japanese

Mo

Star of the sea

Irish

Moya

A variant form of Moira.

Scandinavian

Mya

Dream

Indian (Sanskrit)


What names are similar to May?

Find a name that’s like May, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Annemae
Claramae

English

Ellamae

A combination of Ella and Mae.

September

Lists With May

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name May.


7 Comments

  1. We really liked the name Mabel and the nickname Mae or May, but didn’t feel like our little girl was a Mabel and we liked the spelling May over Mae for a first name.
    We thought May was sweet and short which matched her birth story.
    It also feels mature and sweet at the same time. It’s a name that everyone knows without being overly common

  2. Hello! My name is Maelynn, and when I was going to have my first girl after 5 boys, I was ready! I always LOVED the name Madeline, but I recently had one of my great friend who recenrly had a baby named “Madaline” and I thought it would just be weird if I name my kid something similar right after her daughter was born with that name. I had always loved my middle name “Rosalind” but that didn’t seem to fit with my husband. I was watching a show, and the daughters name was “May” and my husband and I fell in love with that name, but not the spelling. I loved the spelling of Mae as “May” like the month but not sure because it was spelled like the month. I also loved Maey, but I wasn’t sure if that was wierd spelling or not. We finally decided on May!

  3. My maiden name is Maples, so Maple was on our list and my great grandmother was Mabel. We added May in consideration and we fell in love with it. May is my birth month and ended up being hers too. I kept the spelling May (vs Mae) because I like the possibility in it… “May you be happy, May you be healthy, May you be loved”

  4. My fiancee and I narrowed our search down to only M names because we wanted two M’s and two J’s in the house. We both liked May because it’s short and sweet, easy to pronounce and spell, and it’s also my birth month and the name of my favorite singer songwriter.

    One downside is that people seem to want to spell her name as Mae, which we hadn’t anticipated.

    • Really? That’s funny! My name is Maelyn, I go by Mae. Everyone, and I mean everyone, wants to spell my name as May! Except for one friendly Starbucks worker.

  5. I had choose this name because i had a friend that i know from school she was from china and she was a transferred student

    • Omg im a Chinese girl and i chose May as my English name since i was eleven! I think May is the most beautiful month of a year, with flowers and sunshine. Hope your little baby girl love her name~


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