Head to head · Girls' names
Maya vs Ruby
#62 vs #64 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Maya is a whisker ahead (#62 vs #64 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Ruby leads 4 measures of 6; Maya 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 —, Ruby #114 — Ruby higher
- 1890s: Maya —, Ruby #67 — Ruby higher
- 1900s: Maya —, Ruby #40 — Ruby higher
- 1910s: Maya —, Ruby #24 — Ruby higher
- 1920s: Maya —, Ruby #29 — Ruby higher
- 1930s: Maya —, Ruby #47 — Ruby higher
- 1940s: Maya #4264, Ruby #93 — Ruby higher
- 1950s: Maya #3682, Ruby #169 — Ruby higher
- 1960s: Maya #1952, Ruby #284 — Ruby higher
- 1970s: Maya #757, Ruby #351 — Ruby higher
- 1980s: Maya #631, Ruby #370 — Ruby higher
- 1990s: Maya #257, Ruby #273 — Maya higher
- 2000s: Maya #80, Ruby #165 — Maya higher
- 2010s: Maya #66, Ruby #88 — Maya higher
- 2020s: Maya #55, Ruby #65 — Maya higher
Ruby stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Maya has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maya | Ruby |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #114 |
| 1890s | — | #67 |
| 1900s | — | #40 |
| 1910s | — | #24 |
| 1920s | — | #29 |
| 1930s | — | #47 |
| 1940s | #4264 | #93 |
| 1950s | #3682 | #169 |
| 1960s | #1952 | #284 |
| 1970s | #757 | #351 |
| 1980s | #631 | #370 |
| 1990s | #257 | #273 |
| 2000s | #80 | #165 |
| 2010s | #66 | #88 |
| 2020s | #55 | #65 |
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
Ruby
- Scotland#30
- England & Wales#41
- Canada#89
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.
Ruby
The red gemstone; ultimately from Latin ruber, "red"
The chain runs from Latin ruber through Medieval Latin rubinus, the red stone, into Old French and then English.
ruber (Latin, "red") → rubinus (Medieval Latin) → rubi / rubis (Old French) → ruby (English) → Ruby (given name)
How it traveled
The word arrived in English from Old French in the Middle Ages, and stayed a word for centuries before anyone thought to call a daughter by it. That change came in the nineteenth century, when English-speaking parents began naming girls after gemstones and flowers, and Ruby took to it better than most of its neighbors.
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.
Ruby
ROO-bee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Pronounced the same as the gemstone, and the same in every English-speaking country — one of the few names that needs no explaining at a roll call.
- Rubes — The everyday informal short form among friends and siblings; almost never written down.
- Roo — A family nickname, usually from the early years, and shared with several other names.
- Ru — Clipped and informal; also stands alone as a short name in its own right.
- Ruby-Rose / Ruby-Mae — Hyphenated compounds are common in British and Irish usage, with Ruby used in full day to day.
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
Ruby
Ruby Bridges (b. 1954) — At six, integrated her New Orleans school — immortalized by Norman Rockwell
Ruby Dee (b. 1922) — Stage and screen great of the civil rights era
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 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
- a name that feels very nowMaya is holding its place on the charts
Choose Ruby if you want…
- a name on the way upup 10 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordRuby was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Maya
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.
Ruby
Strengths
- Everyone can spell it and everyone can say it: it is an ordinary English word, so it survives phone calls, forms and teachers without a second attempt.
- A long unbroken record — in continuous use since the Victorian gemstone fashion, with living bearers across every adult generation.
- Charts on both sides of the Atlantic, in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada, so it travels without becoming foreign.
To consider
- It is also a common word and a common pet name, so a child will meet the gem, the color and somebody's dog under the same label.
- Rubi, Rubie and Rubey all exist, so expect an occasional wrong letter even though the main spelling is the familiar one.
- It carries a strong period flavor for some listeners — it was a great-grandmother's name before it came back around, and both associations are live at once.
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.
Ruby
12%chance Ruby feels dated by 2040
Ruby has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Ruby 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 Ruby?
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
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- 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 Ruby — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maya or Ruby — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maya or Ruby?
- Maya, in 2025: Maya ranked #62 with 3,712 babies; Ruby ranked #64 with 3,554 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maya or Ruby?
- Ruby. Over the last five years Maya moved down 1 place; Ruby moved up 10 places.
- Which is the older name, Maya or Ruby?
- Maya entered the US charts in 1940; Ruby was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Ruby is the older name.
- How many people are named Maya and Ruby?
- About 122,000 people named Maya are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 160,000 people named Ruby are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Mayas or Rubys in the classroom?
- Maya will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ruby 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 Maya, Ruby and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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