Head to head · Girls' names
Maya vs Millie
#62 vs #73 in 2025
Maya is a whisker ahead (#62 vs #73 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maya is holding its place on the charts, Millie is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Millie 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, Maya leads 4 measures of 6; Millie leads 2.
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: Maya —, Millie #146 — Millie higher
- 1890s: Maya —, Millie #189 — Millie higher
- 1900s: Maya —, Millie #225 — Millie higher
- 1910s: Maya —, Millie #263 — Millie higher
- 1920s: Maya —, Millie #342 — Millie higher
- 1930s: Maya —, Millie #406 — Millie higher
- 1940s: Maya #4264, Millie #504 — Millie higher
- 1950s: Maya #3682, Millie #670 — Millie higher
- 1960s: Maya #1952, Millie #952 — Millie higher
- 1970s: Maya #757, Millie #1483 — Maya higher
- 1980s: Maya #631, Millie #2276 — Maya higher
- 1990s: Maya #257, Millie #2694 — Maya higher
- 2000s: Maya #80, Millie #1513 — Maya higher
- 2010s: Maya #66, Millie #529 — Maya higher
- 2020s: Maya #55, Millie #126 — Maya higher
Millie stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Maya has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maya | Millie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #146 |
| 1890s | — | #189 |
| 1900s | — | #225 |
| 1910s | — | #263 |
| 1920s | — | #342 |
| 1930s | — | #406 |
| 1940s | #4264 | #504 |
| 1950s | #3682 | #670 |
| 1960s | #1952 | #952 |
| 1970s | #757 | #1483 |
| 1980s | #631 | #2276 |
| 1990s | #257 | #2694 |
| 2000s | #80 | #1513 |
| 2010s | #66 | #529 |
| 2020s | #55 | #126 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Maya
- England & Wales#15
- Canada#16
- Scotland#20
- France#76
Millie
- Scotland#7
- England & Wales#27
- Canada#83
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Maya
Depends on which road you follow: 'illusion' in Sanskrit, 'mother' or 'nurse' in Greek, 'water' in modern Hebrew
These are not rival guesses at one word but several distinct names that arrived at the same spelling. Sanskrit माया (māyā) is a philosophical term for the illusory surface of the world, and Māyā is also the name given in Buddhist tradition to the Buddha's mother. Greek Maia was the eldest of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes; the Roman Maia gave her name to the month of May. In Hebrew, Maya is generally connected to mayim, 'water'. Slavic Maja and Майя run alongside all of these.
How it traveled
The oldest written traces are the Sanskrit māyā of Hindu philosophy and the Greek Maia of the Pleiades, two unrelated words that happen to sound alike. Latin took Maia from Greek and attached her to the month of May, which is how the sound stayed alive in Europe long after the goddess faded.
Millie
Depends on the longer name behind it: 'gentle strength', 'work' or 'strong worker' are the usual readings
Millie is a short form of several unrelated names, so its meaning shifts with its parent. Through Mildred it goes back to Old English mild ('gentle') and þryð ('strength, power'). Through Millicent it traces to a Germanic name built on amal ('work, labor') and swinth ('strong'). Through Amelia and Emilia the roots are amal again, and the Roman family name Aemilius. Used on its own, as it very often is now, Millie carries no single settled meaning.
Mildþryð → Mildred → Millie
How it traveled
The name is English in its current shape, but the material behind it is older and came from more than one direction. Mildred is native Old English, borne by an Anglo-Saxon abbess and revived by Victorian parents with a taste for early English names.
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
Maya
MY-ah
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Sanskrit original is closer to MAH-yah, and Polish or German Maja is pronounced the same way as English Maya. The main mix-up is with Mia (MEE-ah), a separate name.
- May — The most common short form in English, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Mai — Same sound as May with a spelling closer to the parent name; also an independent name in Welsh, Vietnamese and Japanese.
- Mimi — A family-level pet form rather than a public one; used affectionately by some households, not something a teacher would reach for.
Millie
MIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable, and no regional disagreement about it in English. The Millie/Milly spelling choice is the only thing that trips people up, not the sound.
- Millie — Now used as a full given name in its own right on birth records, as well as an informal short form of Mildred, Millicent, Amelia, Emilia and Camilla.
- Mills — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates; a surname-style nickname of the kind English speakers apply to short names.
- Mil — Very informal and family-only; rarely written down.
- Millie-Mae — A double form found in British usage, where hyphenated pairings with Millie are established.
Who has carried each name
Maya
Maya Angelou (b. 1928) — Poet of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Lin (b. 1959) — Designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at age 21
Maya Rudolph (b. 1972) — SNL great and comedy star
Millie
Millie Bobby Brown (b. 2004) — Stranger Things' Eleven
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Maya if you want…
- a name most people already know#62 in 2025, 3,712 babies that year
- a name holding steadyMaya is holding its place on the charts
- a name that charts abroad tooMaya is on the national lists of England & Wales, Canada, Scotland and France
- a newer arrivalMaya entered the US charts in 1940
Choose Millie if you want…
- a name fewer children share#73 in 2025 — millie will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 117 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordMillie was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that feels very nowMillie is climbing the charts fast
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
Maya
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and readable on sight in English, Spanish, German, Polish and Hebrew — few names travel that far without needing a spelling lesson.
To consider
- Mia, Maia, Maja and Mya all sit close by, so expect to spell it aloud now and then — the sound alone will not tell people which one you mean.
- The Sanskrit sense, 'illusion', is a philosophical term rather than a compliment, and anyone who knows it may mention it. The Greek and Hebrew readings are just as legitimate.
- Familiar without being everywhere: most people will have heard the name, and a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
Millie
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and immediately readable — most people will say it correctly on first sight.
- Works either as a full legal name or as the everyday form of Amelia, Emilia, Millicent, Camilla or Mildred, which leaves the decision flexible.
- Currently charting in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada as well as the United States, so it travels across English-speaking countries without explanation.
To consider
- Millie and Milly are both established, so expect a lifetime of spelling it out. Neither version is wrong, which is exactly what keeps the confusion going.
- It is climbing quickly. A name that is uncommon in classrooms now may be considerably more familiar by the time she starts school.
- As a diminutive by origin, it has no more formal register of its own. Some parents solve this by choosing a longer legal name and using Millie every day; others simply don't mind.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Maya
40%chance Maya feels dated by 2040
Maya sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Millie
60%chance Millie feels dated by 2040
Millie is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Maya and Millie 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 Maya and Millie?
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 that carry both names
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Two-syllable names, the American default
- all guides
Every list here names both Maya and Millie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maya or Millie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maya or Millie?
- Maya, in 2025: Maya ranked #62 with 3,712 babies; Millie ranked #73 with 3,353 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maya or Millie?
- Millie. Over the last five years Maya moved down 1 place; Millie moved up 117 places.
- Which is the older name, Maya or Millie?
- Maya entered the US charts in 1940; Millie was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Millie is the older name.
- How many people are named Maya and Millie?
- About 122,000 people named Maya are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,000 people named Millie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Mayas or Millies in the classroom?
- Maya will almost certainly be the only one in school. Millie 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
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