Mael
Masculine · “prince”
Mael comes from Brittany, that granite corner of northwestern France where Celtic names survived the centuries alongside French ones. It is built on an old Brittonic word for a chief or prince — the same element that sits inside the Welsh name Maelgwn. Two vowels, four letters, and a lift on the second syllable: mah-EL.
How old is the name Mael?
Mael first appears in US birth records in 2002 — 23 years ago. The typical Mael is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,300 people named Mael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mael most popular?
Mael peaked in 2023, reaching #971 nationally. Today it ranks #1097, 126 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Maglos (Brittonic) to Mael
The story of Mael
Mael is Breton, and in Brittany it is spelled Maël, the diaeresis telling a French reader to sound both vowels rather than run them together. The name belongs to a family of Breton names still in wide use across France, including the feminine Maëlle and Maëlys. Breton names came back into strong favor in France during the twentieth-century revival of regional identity, and Maël rose with them, moving out of Brittany into general French use. In the United States it is a newcomer, arriving mainly through French-speaking families and through parents drawn to short Celtic names — its bearers here are overwhelmingly young children.
Meaning
prince, chief
The Breton mael goes back to Brittonic *maglos, "chief, prince" — the same element in the Welsh royal name Maelgwn, borne by a king of Gwynedd in the sixth century.
How the name formed
- MaglosBrittonic
- MaelOld Breton
- MaëlBreton, French
- Mael
Related forms: Maël · Maël · Mael · Maelig · Maëlle · Maëlys
Pronouncing Mael
mah-EL
Two syllables, stress on the second. The French spelling Maël uses the diaeresis precisely to keep the vowels apart; without it, English speakers often guess "mayl", rhyming with mail. Expect to correct that fairly often.
Nicknames for Mael
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 2002
- Most boys named
- 2023226 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #971reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −6.3%195 in 2025, from 208
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Mael in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Maël in French — spelling variant
- Maël in Breton — same name
- Mael in Welsh — same name
- Maelig in Breton — related form
- Maëlle in French (feminine) — related form
- Maëlys in French (feminine) — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Maels among us
people named Mael are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,759 born in 2025 was named Mael
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Trenten test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mael's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Trenten climbed just as high around 2004, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Trenten's path sketches the road Mael is walking now.
Mael 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Mael is headed
Mael is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 62% more babies given the name than today.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Mael beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mael in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short and already complete — four letters, no shortening needed, and nothing to trim on a form.
- Well established in French and Breton use, so the name has a real home and a documented history behind it, not just a recent spelling.
- Spells cleanly in English without the diaeresis, while the accented Maël stays available for family or official French use.
- Carries a settled meaning parents can state in one word: chief, prince.
- The pronunciation will need repeating. English readers reach for "mayl" before "mah-EL", and the diaeresis that solves this in French rarely survives American paperwork.
- In the US this name's wave is very recent and still small, so a child will likely be the only one anywhere nearby — a plus for some families, and an ongoing round of spelling it out for others.
- The similar-looking French names Maëlle and Maëlys are feminine, which occasionally causes a moment of confusion for anyone who knows the Breton set. In France, Maël itself is unambiguously a boy's name.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Mael to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Mael? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Mael
Masculine · #1097 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Mael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mael in 2025?
- Mael ranks #1097 among US boy names in 2025, with 195 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mael?
- About 1 in every 8,759 US boys born in 2025 was named Mael — 195 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mael with classmates?
- Mael will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mael
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dayton#1097 · Bobby#1097 · Dimitri#1097 · Brendan#1097 · Kit#1097 · Turner#1097 · Rami#1097 · Marlon#1097
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mael? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mael and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle