Head to head · Girls' names
Mae vs Mariam
#500 vs #505 in 2025
Mae is a whisker ahead (#500 vs #505 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Mae is holding its place on the charts, Mariam is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Mariam has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Mae leads 5 measures of 6; Mariam leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Mae #65, Mariam #863 — Mae higher
- 1890s: Mae #55, Mariam #1229 — Mae higher
- 1900s: Mae #58, Mariam #1277 — Mae higher
- 1910s: Mae #84, Mariam #1002 — Mae higher
- 1920s: Mae #116, Mariam #979 — Mae higher
- 1930s: Mae #159, Mariam #1250 — Mae higher
- 1940s: Mae #228, Mariam #1798 — Mae higher
- 1950s: Mae #382, Mariam #2188 — Mae higher
- 1960s: Mae #723, Mariam #2065 — Mae higher
- 1970s: Mae #1354, Mariam #2070 — Mae higher
- 1980s: Mae #1868, Mariam #1268 — Mariam higher
- 1990s: Mae #2157, Mariam #899 — Mariam higher
- 2000s: Mae #1324, Mariam #671 — Mariam higher
- 2010s: Mae #679, Mariam #588 — Mariam higher
- 2020s: Mae #520, Mariam #562 — Mae higher
Mae stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Mae took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mae | Mariam |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #65 | #863 |
| 1890s | #55 | #1229 |
| 1900s | #58 | #1277 |
| 1910s | #84 | #1002 |
| 1920s | #116 | #979 |
| 1930s | #159 | #1250 |
| 1940s | #228 | #1798 |
| 1950s | #382 | #2188 |
| 1960s | #723 | #2065 |
| 1970s | #1354 | #2070 |
| 1980s | #1868 | #1268 |
| 1990s | #2157 | #899 |
| 2000s | #1324 | #671 |
| 2010s | #679 | #588 |
| 2020s | #520 | #562 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Mae
Not charting outside the US.
Mariam
- France#86
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Mae
A pet form of Mary or Margaret
Mae is a variant of May, used as a short form of Mary and Margaret.
Mary → May → Mae
How it traveled
'; the tidier version came from audiences and impressionists. In 1992 Mae Jemison, a physician and engineer from Chicago, flew aboard the shuttle Endeavour and became the first Black woman in space.
Mariam
Uncertain; the same name as Miriam and Mary
No reading has won. The best-supported proposals trace it to Egyptian mry, 'beloved', or to a root meaning 'wished-for child'; an old Hebrew folk etymology splits it as mar and yam, 'bitter sea'. Scholars have argued over this for centuries, and the honest summary is that the name is older than any explanation of it.
Miryam → Mariam → Maryam → Maria → Mary
How it traveled
The name begins as Hebrew Miryam, borne by the sister of Moses in the Torah. When Jewish translators and the writers of the Greek New Testament put it into Greek, they used Mariam — an indeclinable form that sat awkwardly in Greek grammar and so stayed close to the original sound.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Mae
MAY
One syllable.
- Maisie — A pet form, also a given name on its own.
Mariam
MAR-ee-um
English speakers usually stress the first syllable: MAR-ee-um or MAH-ree-um. In Arabic the stress moves to the middle, mar-YAM, and Georgian keeps a fuller mah-ree-AHM. All are correct for their language; it is worth deciding which one you will correct people toward.
- Mari — The most direct short form, and a standalone given name in Welsh, Georgian and Japanese.
- Mimi — Affectionate and informal; used across several languages for names beginning with Ma- or Mi-.
- Mia — Informal in the family, though widely known on its own as a full given name in the US.
- Ria — Clipped from the end rather than the start; common in Dutch and German usage.
- Also Mary.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Mae if you want…
- a name holding steadyMae is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMae is 1 syllable to Mariam's 3
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Mae (Maisie)
- a long American recordMae was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Mariam if you want…
- a name on the way upup 131 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMariam runs 3 syllables, Mae 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Mari, Mimi and Mia
- a name that charts abroad tooMariam is on the national lists of France
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Mae
Strengths
- Short, bright and instantly familiar.
- A long, unbroken American history.
- Works well as a first or middle name.
To consider
- People will ask whether it is short for Mary.
- It is sometimes spelled May, and forms may correct it.
- For a boy it would be very unusual.
Mariam
Strengths
- Recognized in Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities alike, and written the same way in all of them.
- Spelled phonetically for English readers — no silent letters, no ambiguous vowels.
- A written record going back to the Greek of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, unbroken since.
To consider
- It will be confused with Miriam, Maryam and Marium for life. All four are the same name, which makes the mix-up forgivable, but expect to spell it out at doctors' offices and on class lists.
- The stress pattern shifts between communities: MAR-ee-um in English, mar-YAM in Arabic. Neither is wrong, and a child with family in both will simply learn to answer to both.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled. If you want a name whose translation you can give in one line, this one will keep resisting.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Mae and Mariam in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Mae and Mariam?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- Vintage nicknames standing on their own
- all guides
Where Mae and Mariam each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mae or Mariam — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mae or Mariam?
- Mae, in 2025: Mae ranked #500 with 594 babies; Mariam ranked #505 with 589 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mae or Mariam?
- Mariam. Over the last five years Mae moved up 72 places; Mariam moved up 131 places.
- Which is the older name, Mae or Mariam?
- Mae was already in use when US records began in 1880; Mariam entered the US charts in 1882. On the American record, Mae is the older name.
- How many people are named Mae and Mariam?
- About 28,000 people named Mae are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 17,000 people named Mariam are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maes or Mariams in the classroom?
- Mae will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mariam will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Mae, Mariam and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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