Maelie
Feminine · “prince”
Maëlie is a French name built on the Breton element mael, a prince or a chief — one of the oldest pieces of Breton naming, and one that English speakers almost never meet.
How old is the name Maelie?
Maelie first appears in US birth records in 2004 — 21 years ago. The typical Maelie is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Maelie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maelie most popular?
Maelie peaked in 2024, reaching #2508 nationally. Today it ranks #3517, 1,009 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From mael to Maelie
The story of Maelie
Mael was a real Breton element and a sixth-century saint carried it, which kept it alive in Brittany through centuries when Breton names were discouraged in France. The twentieth-century Breton revival brought Maël, Maëlle and Maëlys back into wide French use, and Maëlie is one of the newer forms. The diaeresis over the e is not decoration: it tells a French reader that the a and e are separate vowels.
Meaning
prince, chief
From Breton mael, a prince or chieftain, which opens Maël, Maëlys and Maëlle; the element is Celtic and appears in Welsh and Cornish names as well.
How the name formed
- mael
- Maël
- Maëlie
Related forms: Maël · Maëlys · Maëlle
Pronouncing Maelie
mah-ay-LEE
Three syllables in French, with the diaeresis separating the vowels. Americans usually say MAY-lee, with two.
Nicknames for Maelie
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
- 2004
- Most girls named
- 202471 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2508reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −39.4%43 in 2025, from 71
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.
Maelie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Maël in Breton — related form
- Maëlys in French — related form
- Maëlle in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Indiana.
Maelies among us
people named Maelie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 37,378 born in 2025 was named Maelie
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 Sonali test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maelie's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sonali climbed just as high around 2000, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sonali's path sketches the road Maelie is walking now.
Maelie 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 Maelie is headed
Maelie looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 40% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Maelie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maelie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Breton meaning with a documented Celtic history.
- Mae is a complete short form with real English history of its own.
- It is distinctive in American records while entirely ordinary in France.
- The diaeresis will be dropped by American systems, which collapses three syllables into two.
- American readers see Mae and stop, which loses the Breton shape.
- Maelie, Maelys and Maelle are all current in French and get confused in English.
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What they receive
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Maelie
Feminine · #3517 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maelies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Maelie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maelie in 2025?
- Maelie ranks #3517 among US girl names in 2025, with 43 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maelie?
- About 1 in every 37,378 US girls born in 2025 was named Maelie — 43 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maelie with classmates?
- Maelie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maelie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maida#3517 · Amada#3517 · Afton#3517 · Allura#3517 · Jaina#3517 · Hallee#3517 · Katara#3517 · Joella#3517
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maelie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maelie and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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