Maia
Feminine · Greek roots · “mother”
Maia is one of the Pleiades in Greek myth — the eldest of the seven sisters, and the mother of Hermes. Roman writers connected the month of May with a goddess of the same name, so the word has been tied to spring and growth for well over two thousand years. Two syllables, four letters, and vowels almost all the way through: it moves quickly in the mouth and lands softly.
How old is the name Maia?
Maia first appears in US birth records in 1950 — 75 years ago. The typical Maia alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 18,000 people named Maia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maia most popular?
Maia peaked in 2022, reaching #420 nationally. Today it ranks #433, 13 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Maia appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Μαῖα (Greek) to Maia
The story of Maia
The name is first securely Greek: Μαῖα, borne by the eldest of the Pleiades, and used in ordinary speech as a courteous term for a nurse or mother. Latin took it up as Maia, where Roman writers such as Ovid linked it to the month of Maius and to a goddess associated with growing things. From there it traveled quietly through European languages, surfacing as Maja in German, Polish and Scandinavian use and as Maia in Georgia, where it has long been common. Its arrival on American records is much more recent, and it has always shared the road with the spelling Maya, which reached English from quite different directions.
Meaningscholars disagree
mother, nurse, midwife (Greek); also linked to growth and the month of May
In ancient Greek, maia was a respectful word for a mother, nurse or midwife, and that is the reading behind the mythological Maia of the Pleiades. Roman tradition attached the name to the month of Maius and to a goddess of growth, tying it to the Latin root for increase. A third road matters in American use: the spelling Maia often stands in for Maya, which has its own separate sources — Sanskrit maya and a Hebrew name connected with water. Same four sounds, different family trees.
How the name formed
- ΜαῖαGreek
- MaiaLatin
- Maja
- Maia
Related forms: Maya · Maja · Maja · Майя · Maia · Μαία
Pronouncing Maia
MY-ah
MY-ah is the usual American reading. MAY-ah is also heard, closer to the Latin and to the month of May, and both are correct — which does mean the name will occasionally be said the other way and need a gentle correction.
Nicknames for Maia
High
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
- 1950
- Most girls named
- 2022752 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #420reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- +4.8%715 in 2025, from 682
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.
Maia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Maya in English — spelling variant
- Maja in German, Scandinavian — spelling variant
- Maja in Polish — spelling variant
- Майя in Russian — transliteration
- Maia in Georgian — same name
- Μαία in Greek — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, New York.
Maias among us
people named Maia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,248 born in 2025 was named Maia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Maia
- #433
- Maia on the 2025 chart
- #53
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Maia went to 715 girls in 2025, but Maya, Maiya and Mayah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 4,611, which makes it the 53rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 380 places above the chart.
and 2 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 349 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 2,248 for Maia 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 Gena test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maia's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Gena climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Gena's path sketches the road Maia is walking now.
Maia 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 Maia is headed
Maia should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Maia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, phonetic and easy to write early: four letters, no silent parts, no double consonants.
- A documented record stretching from ancient Greek through Latin into modern European use — nothing about it is newly minted.
- Works in several languages with only a change of spelling: Maja, Майя, Maia.
- Familiar in sound without being crowded — it sits comfortably beside names people already know while rarely doubling up in a classroom.
- The Maya spelling is far better known in the US, so Maia will be written the other way often — on forms, in emails, on birthday cards. Most people with this spelling settle into a habit of saying "Maia, with an i" for life.
- Two live pronunciations, MY-ah and MAY-ah, means she may hear both from teachers and new acquaintances until she corrects them.
- There is also crossover with Mia and Maria in ordinary conversation, since all three share their opening sounds; expect the occasional mishearing over the phone.
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What they receive
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Maia
Feminine · Greek roots · #433 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 18,000 people named Maia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Maia?
- Maia is one of 5 recorded spellings. Maya is the more common one — 3,712 births in 2025 against 715 for Maia.
- How popular is the name Maia in 2025?
- Maia ranks #433 among US girl names in 2025, with 715 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maia?
- About 1 in every 2,248 US girls born in 2025 was named Maia — 715 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maia with classmates?
- Maia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dream#432 · Vienna#434 · London#431 · Lyra#435 · Salem#435 · Katalina#430 · Leona#429 · Hayden#437
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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