Maelle
Feminine · “prince”
Maëlle is Breton, and it is built on one of the plainest words in that language: mael, a prince or a chief. It is the feminine of Maël, and the two of them have been among the most given names in Brittany for decades.
How old is the name Maelle?
Maelle first appears in US birth records in 2001 — 24 years ago. The typical Maelle is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Maelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maelle most popular?
Maelle peaked in 2025, reaching #2778 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From mael to Maelle
The story of Maelle
Brittany held on to a Celtic language after the rest of northern France had let theirs go, and it kept a distinct stock of names with it. Maël belonged to a sixth-century saint, and the name stayed in local use through centuries when Paris preferred its own list. The twentieth-century Breton revival brought a whole set of these names back deliberately — Maël, Maëlle, Erwan, Gwenn, Enora — and they spread out of Brittany into general French use, where Maëlle became genuinely common. It reaches American records with French families and with parents who met it there.
Meaning
prince, chief
Breton mael means a prince or a chieftain, and it is a genuine Celtic element found across the Brythonic languages — the same word appears in Welsh names and in the Old Breton records. Maël is the masculine name and Maëlle the feminine, formed with the -le ending Breton uses for exactly that. The reading is documented and not in dispute.
How the name formed
- mael
- Maël
- Maëlle
Related forms: Maël · Maëlle · Maëlys
Pronouncing Maelle
mah-EL
Two syllables with the stress on the second. The diaeresis over the e in Maëlle exists to stop French readers running ae together into a single sound — it tells them to say both vowels. American records usually drop it, which is why the pronunciation gets lost.
Nicknames for Maelle
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
- 2001
- Most girls named
- 202561 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2778reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +408.3%61 in 2025, from 12
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.
Maelle in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Maël in Breton — related form
- Maëlle in French — same name
- Maëlys in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Florida, California.
Maelles among us
people named Maelle are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Maelle
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Maelle
- #2778
- Maelle on the 2025 chart
- #820
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Maelle went to 61 girls in 2025, but Maelee is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 140, which makes it the 820th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,958 places above the chart.
- Maelee79
- Maelle61
About 1 girl in 11,480 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 26,349 for Maelle itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Allanah test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maelle's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Allanah climbed just as high around 2006, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Allanah's path sketches the road Maelle is walking now.
Maelle 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 Maelle is headed
Maelle is easing off slowly — about 28% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. 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.
Maelle beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maelle in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Breton name with a clear and concrete meaning behind it.
- Mae and Elle are both ready short forms and both are established names in English.
- Common in France, so it is a real name with a living community rather than a borrowing.
- The diaeresis is almost always dropped in American paperwork, and with it the pronunciation.
- English speakers will say MAY-el or MAY-ell rather than mah-EL.
- Maelle, Maëlle, Maella and Mayelle all circulate in American records.
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What they receive
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Maelle
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maelles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Maelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Maelle?
- Maelle is one of 2 recorded spellings. Maelee is the more common one — 79 births in 2025 against 61 for Maelle.
- How popular is the name Maelle in 2025?
- Maelle ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maelle?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Maelle — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maelle with classmates?
- Maelle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maelle
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenia#2778 · Amour#2778 · Wynona#2778 · Joie#2778 · Bennie#2778 · Havyn#2778 · Wisdom#2778 · Aela#2778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maelle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maelle and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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