Mae
Mae was given to 594 girls in 2025, #501 among girls’ names; 115,441 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 25,900 Americans named Mae and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (22% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 12 and 79.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Mae by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Mae mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Mae is “a female given name; popular as a middle name.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Mae?
#501 among girls’ names, 2025
Mae rose from #588 in 2015 to #501 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.29 to 0.37 per 1,000.
2,769 babies in 1918, the peak
Mae peaked in 1918, when 2,769 babies were given it (2,756 girls, #95 among girls’ names). The 594 births of 2025 are 21% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 594 | #501 | 0.37 |
| 2024 | 578 | #529 | 0.36 |
| 2023 | 599 | #506 | 0.37 |
| 2022 | 614 | #511 | 0.37 |
| 2021 | 622 | #502 | 0.38 |
| 2020 | 511 | #576 | 0.32 |
| 2019 | 556 | #549 | 0.33 |
| 2018 | 561 | #553 | 0.33 |
| 2017 | 461 | #640 | 0.27 |
| 2016 | 535 | #579 | 0.30 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 513 | #588 | 0.29 |
| 2014 | 413 | #686 | 0.23 |
| 2013 | 419 | #676 | 0.24 |
| 2012 | 373 | #749 | 0.21 |
| 2011 | 337 | #804 | 0.19 |
| 2010 | 259 | #979 | 0.15 |
| 2009 | 240 | #1,065 | 0.13 |
| 2008 | 230 | #1,124 | 0.12 |
| 2007 | 208 | #1,208 | 0.11 |
| 2006 | 207 | #1,177 | 0.11 |
| 2005 | 175 | #1,279 | 0.09 |
| 2004 | 151 | #1,384 | 0.08 |
| 2003 | 119 | #1,621 | 0.07 |
| 2002 | 140 | #1,381 | 0.08 |
| 2001 | 112 | #1,636 | 0.06 |
| 2000 | 132 | #1,407 | 0.07 |
| 1999 | 99 | #1,671 | 0.06 |
| 1998 | 83 | #1,857 | 0.05 |
| 1997 | 68 | #2,091 | 0.04 |
| 1996 | 56 | #2,356 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 61 | #2,199 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 66 | #2,087 | 0.04 |
| 1993 | 45 | #2,698 | 0.02 |
| 1992 | 53 | #2,441 | 0.03 |
| 1991 | 64 | #2,097 | 0.03 |
| 1990 | 59 | #2,185 | 0.03 |
| 1989 | 58 | #2,131 | 0.03 |
| 1988 | 55 | #2,112 | 0.03 |
| 1987 | 59 | #1,932 | 0.03 |
| 1986 | 53 | #2,040 | 0.03 |
| 1985 | 56 | #1,960 | 0.03 |
| 1984 | 63 | #1,742 | 0.04 |
| 1983 | 60 | #1,785 | 0.04 |
| 1982 | 64 | #1,748 | 0.04 |
| 1981 | 59 | #1,856 | 0.04 |
| 1980 | 79 | #1,509 | 0.05 |
| 1979 | 65 | #1,699 | 0.04 |
| 1978 | 71 | #1,553 | 0.05 |
| 1977 | 75 | #1,478 | 0.05 |
| 1976 | 69 | #1,509 | 0.05 |
| 1975 | 86 | #1,297 | 0.06 |
| 1974 | 87 | #1,257 | 0.06 |
| 1973 | 90 | #1,195 | 0.06 |
| 1972 | 92 | #1,176 | 0.06 |
| 1971 | 75 | #1,413 | 0.05 |
| 1970 | 120 | #1,033 | 0.07 |
| 1969 | 127 | #947 | 0.08 |
| 1968 | 112 | #989 | 0.07 |
| 1967 | 147 | #829 | 0.09 |
| 1966 | 181 | #732 | 0.11 |
| 1965 | 189 | #722 | 0.11 |
| 1964 | 205 | #724 | 0.11 |
| 1963 | 247 | #643 | 0.13 |
| 1962 | 259 | #629 | 0.13 |
| 1961 | 358 | #517 | 0.18 |
| 1960 | 347 | #519 | 0.17 |
| 1959 | 368 | #509 | 0.18 |
| 1958 | 374 | #495 | 0.19 |
| 1957 | 459 | #439 | 0.22 |
| 1956 | 465 | #423 | 0.23 |
| 1955 | 575 | #367 | 0.29 |
| 1954 | 554 | #370 | 0.29 |
| 1953 | 640 | #327 | 0.34 |
| 1952 | 640 | #319 | 0.35 |
| 1951 | 730 | #290 | 0.41 |
| 1950 | 737 | #287 | 0.43 |
| 1949 | 792 | #274 | 0.46 |
| 1948 | 884 | #252 | 0.52 |
| 1947 | 859 | #253 | 0.48 |
| 1946 | 806 | #249 | 0.51 |
| 1945 | 854 | #225 | 0.65 |
| 1944 | 868 | #224 | 0.65 |
| 1943 | 876 | #224 | 0.63 |
| 1942 | 997 | #204 | 0.74 |
| 1941 | 993 | #191 | 0.82 |
| 1940 | 1,018 | #185 | 0.89 |
| 1939 | 1,060 | #180 | 1.0 |
| 1938 | 1,083 | #183 | 1.0 |
| 1937 | 1,071 | #185 | 1.0 |
| 1936 | 1,136 | #170 | 1.1 |
| 1935 | 1,267 | #160 | 1.2 |
| 1934 | 1,384 | #147 | 1.3 |
| 1933 | 1,290 | #148 | 1.3 |
| 1932 | 1,456 | #141 | 1.4 |
| 1931 | 1,462 | #141 | 1.4 |
| 1930 | 1,650 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1929 | 1,767 | #132 | 1.6 |
| 1928 | 1,808 | #130 | 1.6 |
| 1927 | 2,072 | #125 | 1.7 |
| 1926 | 2,261 | #118 | 1.9 |
| 1925 | 2,332 | #116 | 1.9 |
| 1924 | 2,369 | #114 | 1.9 |
| 1923 | 2,428 | #109 | 2.0 |
| 1922 | 2,404 | #111 | 2.0 |
| 1921 | 2,589 | #110 | 2.1 |
| 1920 | 2,730 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1919 | 2,634 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1918 | 2,756 | #95 | 2.4 |
| 1917 | 2,507 | #96 | 2.3 |
| 1916 | 2,607 | #92 | 2.5 |
| 1915 | 2,486 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1914 | 2,049 | #85 | 2.7 |
| 1913 | 1,814 | #79 | 2.9 |
| 1912 | 1,775 | #74 | 3.2 |
| 1911 | 1,449 | #71 | 3.5 |
| 1910 | 1,453 | #65 | 3.7 |
| 1909 | 1,230 | #68 | 3.5 |
| 1908 | 1,384 | #57 | 4.1 |
| 1907 | 1,375 | #57 | 4.3 |
| 1906 | 1,225 | #60 | 4.1 |
| 1905 | 1,284 | #60 | 4.4 |
| 1904 | 1,214 | #58 | 4.4 |
| 1903 | 1,192 | #58 | 4.6 |
| 1902 | 1,261 | #53 | 4.8 |
| 1901 | 1,140 | #54 | 4.8 |
| 1900 | 1,406 | #54 | 4.7 |
| 1899 | 1,035 | #59 | 4.4 |
| 1898 | 1,239 | #56 | 4.8 |
| 1897 | 1,144 | #54 | 4.9 |
| 1896 | 1,148 | #55 | 4.8 |
| 1895 | 1,193 | #52 | 5.1 |
| 1894 | 1,134 | #54 | 5.1 |
| 1893 | 1,071 | #53 | 5.0 |
| 1892 | 1,101 | #52 | 5.2 |
| 1891 | 933 | #54 | 5.0 |
| 1890 | 920 | #58 | 4.8 |
| 1889 | 883 | #57 | 5.0 |
| 1888 | 836 | #60 | 4.7 |
| 1887 | 680 | #58 | 4.7 |
| 1886 | 641 | #61 | 4.4 |
| 1885 | 578 | #63 | 4.3 |
| 1884 | 542 | #64 | 4.2 |
| 1883 | 423 | #70 | 3.8 |
| 1882 | 406 | #71 | 3.8 |
| 1881 | 314 | #75 | 3.4 |
| 1880 | 344 | #71 | 3.8 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Mae a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Mae has been given almost only to girls: 606 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Mae: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Mae, and how old are they?
25,900 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 22% of the 115,441 Americans ever recorded as Mae. The median Mae alive today is 65 years old; half are between 12 and 79.
The 2020 Census counted 25,052 people named Mae (24,907 women and girls, 145 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 28,805 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 5,690 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 7,710 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,530 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 905 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,910 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,940 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Mae born?
The states with the most babies named Mae are Pennsylvania, Texas and Georgia, with 19% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 5,428 | #503 | 0.8× |
| Texas | 4,977 | #696 | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 4,784 | #541 | 1.7× |
| New York | 4,738 | #542 | 0.6× |
| North Carolina | 4,696 | #594 | 1.6× |
| Mississippi | 4,604 | #286 | 2.7× |
| Alabama | 3,792 | #418 | 1.6× |
| South Carolina | 3,751 | #870 | 2.1× |
| Kentucky | 3,084 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Illinois | 3,026 | #341 | 0.7× |
Where Mae is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Mae is most over-represented in Mississippi: since 1910 it was given 2.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Mae with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 404,319 babies since 1880, Mae is the second most given (29% of them). In 2025 it was given to 594 of their 5,340 babies (11%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Mae
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Mae and names like it
- Compare Mae and MayaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sMae peaked in 1918.
- Pennsylvania’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Mae since 1910.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Mae.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Mae alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with MMost given first.