Maeleigh
Feminine
Maeleigh joins Mae to an English clearing. Mae is worth knowing on its own: it was one of the great American middle names of the twentieth century, sitting on the second line of certificates across the South for generations.
How old is the name Maeleigh?
Maeleigh first appears in US birth records in 2000 — 25 years ago. The typical Maeleigh is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Maeleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maeleigh most popular?
Maeleigh peaked in 2016, reaching #2667 nationally. Today it ranks #3028, 361 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Maeleigh
Our story of Maeleigh belongs to Mae. Through the whole of the twentieth century, across the American South and Midwest, Mae was the middle name — Betty Mae, Ruby Mae, Ella Mae, Bobbie Mae — so common in the second slot that it stopped being noticed as a name at all and became something closer to a rhythm. Names that spend a century in that position build up an enormous store of affection without ever being fashionable. When they come forward again they arrive warm. Maeleigh puts Mae at the front and gives it an ending, and what it is really doing is bringing a grandmother's middle name into the light.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Mae has three possible sources and no way to choose: the month of May, named for the Roman goddess Maia; the hawthorn, called may in English because it flowers then; and the old English pet form of Mary and Margaret. The -leigh ending is Old English leah, 'woodland clearing', spelled the long way. The compound is recent and no derivation for it has been recorded.
Pronouncing Maeleigh
MAY-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The -leigh is said simply as 'lee'; the gh has been silent for centuries, which is why Maylee and Maelee exist alongside it.
Nicknames for Maeleigh
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
- 2000
- Most girls named
- 201665 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2667reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- +12.5%54 in 2025, from 48
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.
Maeleigh in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama.
Maeleighs among us
people named Maeleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 29,764 born in 2025 was named Maeleigh
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 Denia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maeleigh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Denia climbed just as high around 1962, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Denia's path sketches the road Maeleigh is walking now.
Maeleigh 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Maeleigh is headed
Maeleigh should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Maeleigh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maeleigh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Mae and Leigh are both real names on their own, so the child has two ready short forms.
- Two easy syllables that every English speaker says correctly at first sight.
- Mae carries genuine warmth from a century of American use.
- Maeleigh, Maylee, Maelee and Mayleigh are all in use and none is standard.
- The -leigh spelling adds three letters that change nothing you can hear.
- It has no documented meaning as a compound, so anything offered for it is assembled.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Maeleigh
Feminine · #3028 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maeleighs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Maeleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maeleigh in 2025?
- Maeleigh ranks #3028 among US girl names in 2025, with 54 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maeleigh?
- About 1 in every 29,764 US girls born in 2025 was named Maeleigh — 54 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maeleigh with classmates?
- Maeleigh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maeleigh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Minnie#3028 · Boston#3028 · Joann#3028 · Alethea#3028 · Mallie#3028 · Auria#3028 · Adria#3028 · Daila#3028
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maeleigh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maeleigh and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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