Mai
Mai was given to 55 girls in 2025, #3,016 among girls’ names; 5,697 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 5,180 Americans named Mai and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (91% of everyone recorded); the median is 34 years old and half are between 23 and 40.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Mai by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Mai mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Mai is “a female given name, a rare spelling variant of Mae/May, or borrowed from Scandinavia, with the same ultimate origin.”
Chinese surname with several origins:
from Mandarin 麥 /麦 (“wheat”),
from Mandarin and Cantonese 買 /买 (maai⁵, “buy”)
Cantonese form of 米.
Romanized from 马 (mǎ)
Romanized from 梅 (méi) As a German surname, variant of May.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Mai?
#3,016 among girls’ names, 2025
Mai rose from #3,460 in 2015 to #3,016 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 25.8 to 34.2 per million.
254 babies in 1990, the peak
Mai peaked in 1990, when 254 girls were given it, #794 among girls’ names. The 55 births of 2025 are 22% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 55 | #3,016 | 0.03 |
| 2024 | 49 | #3,261 | 0.03 |
| 2023 | 51 | #3,210 | 0.03 |
| 2022 | 55 | #3,017 | 0.03 |
| 2021 | 58 | #2,910 | 0.04 |
| 2020 | 48 | #3,257 | 0.03 |
| 2019 | 50 | #3,204 | 0.03 |
| 2018 | 53 | #3,086 | 0.03 |
| 2017 | 34 | #4,276 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 49 | #3,311 | 0.03 |
Every recorded year (121)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 46 | #3,460 | 0.03 |
| 2014 | 55 | #3,064 | 0.03 |
| 2013 | 55 | #3,030 | 0.03 |
| 2012 | 55 | #3,069 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 61 | #2,856 | 0.03 |
| 2010 | 58 | #2,961 | 0.03 |
| 2009 | 76 | #2,499 | 0.04 |
| 2008 | 79 | #2,434 | 0.04 |
| 2007 | 69 | #2,669 | 0.04 |
| 2006 | 75 | #2,472 | 0.04 |
| 2005 | 84 | #2,193 | 0.05 |
| 2004 | 74 | #2,332 | 0.04 |
| 2003 | 81 | #2,156 | 0.04 |
| 2002 | 63 | #2,514 | 0.04 |
| 2001 | 74 | #2,203 | 0.04 |
| 2000 | 71 | #2,224 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 84 | #1,883 | 0.05 |
| 1998 | 89 | #1,767 | 0.05 |
| 1997 | 95 | #1,663 | 0.05 |
| 1996 | 132 | #1,307 | 0.08 |
| 1995 | 165 | #1,082 | 0.09 |
| 1994 | 213 | #902 | 0.12 |
| 1993 | 202 | #934 | 0.11 |
| 1992 | 201 | #957 | 0.11 |
| 1991 | 221 | #889 | 0.12 |
| 1990 | 254 | #794 | 0.13 |
| 1989 | 239 | #796 | 0.13 |
| 1988 | 184 | #921 | 0.10 |
| 1987 | 154 | #1,012 | 0.09 |
| 1986 | 166 | #954 | 0.10 |
| 1985 | 173 | #917 | 0.10 |
| 1984 | 179 | #856 | 0.11 |
| 1983 | 148 | #986 | 0.09 |
| 1982 | 134 | #1,073 | 0.08 |
| 1981 | 138 | #1,039 | 0.08 |
| 1980 | 71 | #1,630 | 0.04 |
| 1979 | 49 | #2,072 | 0.03 |
| 1978 | 31 | #2,723 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 24 | #3,228 | 0.02 |
| 1976 | 32 | #2,519 | 0.02 |
| 1975 | 24 | #3,015 | 0.02 |
| 1974 | 18 | #3,642 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 14 | #4,269 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 21 | #3,128 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 21 | #3,222 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 18 | #3,518 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 16 | #3,547 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 9 | #5,000 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 17 | #3,156 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 9 | #4,720 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 11 | #4,101 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 9 | #4,835 | under 0.01 |
| 1963 | 10 | #4,432 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 9 | #4,736 | under 0.01 |
| 1961 | 11 | #4,151 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 6 | #6,112 | under 0.01 |
| 1959 | 6 | #5,972 | under 0.01 |
| 1958 | 10 | #4,085 | under 0.01 |
| 1957 | 7 | #5,182 | under 0.01 |
| 1956 | 12 | #3,607 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 11 | #3,702 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 7 | #4,965 | under 0.01 |
| 1953 | 9 | #4,111 | under 0.01 |
| 1952 | 7 | #4,757 | under 0.01 |
| 1950 | 8 | #4,180 | under 0.01 |
| 1949 | 5 | #5,718 | under 0.01 |
| 1948 | 7 | #4,457 | under 0.01 |
| 1947 | 6 | #5,074 | under 0.01 |
| 1946 | 5 | #5,403 | under 0.01 |
| 1944 | 9 | #3,273 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 6 | #4,427 | under 0.01 |
| 1941 | 7 | #3,813 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 8 | #3,305 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 9 | #3,091 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 12 | #2,517 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 7 | #3,585 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 13 | #2,385 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 9 | #3,027 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 8 | #3,459 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 13 | #2,375 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 15 | #2,257 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 17 | #2,067 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 14 | #2,462 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 8 | #3,751 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 13 | #2,654 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,563 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 10 | #3,278 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 12 | #2,844 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 10 | #3,282 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,450 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 15 | #2,425 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,921 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 8 | #3,715 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 10 | #2,995 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 10 | #2,948 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 12 | #2,482 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 12 | #2,080 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,700 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 7 | #2,531 | 0.01 |
| 1911 | 6 | #2,366 | 0.01 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,697 | 0.02 |
| 1907 | 11 | #1,256 | 0.03 |
| 1905 | 5 | #2,121 | 0.02 |
| 1902 | 5 | #1,944 | 0.02 |
| 1898 | 8 | #1,335 | 0.03 |
| 1896 | 6 | #1,513 | 0.03 |
| 1895 | 6 | #1,524 | 0.03 |
| 1891 | 5 | #1,449 | 0.03 |
| 1890 | 5 | #1,450 | 0.03 |
| 1881 | 6 | #792 | 0.07 |
| 1880 | 6 | #804 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Mai a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Mai has been given almost only to girls: 20 boys in 121 years of records.
Girls and boys named Mai: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Mai, and how old are they?
5,180 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 91% of the 5,697 Americans ever recorded as Mai. The median Mai alive today is 34 years old; half are between 23 and 40.
The 2020 Census counted 20,650 people named Mai (19,935 women and girls, 715 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 4,952 born in the U.S. The Census count is 4.2 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 33 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 114 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 361 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,840 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,180 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 654 |
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 Mai born?
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 12 | #1,807 | 2.4× |
| Texas | 7 | #2,820 | 0.4× |
Where Mai is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Mai is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 4.5 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 Mai 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 397,757 babies since 1880, Mai is the sixth most given (1.4% of them). In 2025 it was given to 55 of their 5,415 babies (1.0%), the seventh 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 Mai
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 Mai and names like it
- Compare Mai and MayaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sMai peaked in 1990.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Mai since 1910.
- The top names of 1990The year the most babies were named Mai.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Mai alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with MMost given first.