Mahi
Feminine · “great”
Mahi is given to both — 1,236 girls and 49 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Mahi is Sanskrit for the great one and an old name for the earth, and it is also the Persian word for a fish.
How old is the name Mahi?
Mahi first appears in US birth records in 2001 — 24 years ago. The typical Mahi alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 1,200 people named Mahi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mahi most popular?
Mahi peaked in 2009, reaching #2041 nationally. Today it ranks #4172, 2,131 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Mahi
Ours, offered as ours. The Sanskrit root mah — great — is one of the most productive in the language: Mahabharata, the great story of the Bharatas; mahatma, great soul; maharaja, great king; and mahi, the great one, which the Vedas use for the earth herself. Persian mahi, a fish, is entirely separate and gives the fish dishes of Iranian cooking their name. Two very different words, one spelling, and Indian naming uses both.
Meaningscholars disagree
great; the earth; or a fish
Sanskrit mahi means great and names the earth in the Vedas, from the same root as maha in Mahabharata and Mahatma. Persian mahi is a fish. The two are unrelated and both are used as names in their regions.
Pronouncing Mahi
MAH-hee
Two syllables, first stressed. The h is fully sounded.
Nicknames for Mahi
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
- 2009100 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2041reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −5.6%34 in 2025, from 36
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.
Mahi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mahi in Hindi — transliteration
- Mahi in Sanskrit — same name
- Mahi in Persian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New Jersey, Texas.
Mahis among us
people named Mahi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 47,273 born in 2025 was named Mahi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mahi
- #4172
- Mahi on the 2025 chart
- #904
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mahi went to 34 girls in 2025, but Maahi is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 56, which makes it the 904th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,268 places above the chart.
- Mahi34
- Maahi22
About 1 girl in 28,701 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 47,273 for Mahi 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 Dory test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mahi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dory climbed just as high around 1964, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dory's path sketches the road Mahi is walking now.
Mahi 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 Mahi is headed
Mahi 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.
Mahi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mahi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Sanskrit meaning with one of the language's great roots behind it.
- Four letters and two syllables, about as easy to write as a name gets.
- Open vowels make it easy to say in most languages.
- The h in the middle is swallowed by English speakers.
- A fish sold as mahi-mahi is a strong American association.
- It is used for both sexes in India, so forms may guess wrong.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Mahi
Feminine · #4172 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mahis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Mahi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mahi?
- Mahi is the most-used spelling in US records — 34 of the 56 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Maahi.
- How popular is the name Mahi in 2025?
- Mahi ranks #4172 among US girl names in 2025, with 34 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mahi?
- About 1 in every 47,273 US girls born in 2025 was named Mahi — 34 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mahi with classmates?
- Mahi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mahi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseanna#4172 · Elida#4172 · Neila#4172 · Savina#4172 · Kendyl#4172 · Zakiya#4172 · Naisha#4172 · Ethel#4172
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mahi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mahi and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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