May
Feminine
May is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 49,400 girls against 699 boys since 1880. See May as a boy name
May is three letters that arrive from at least three directions, and the record has held it for daughters and sons since records began. The day at the start of the month it names is a public holiday in most of the world for a reason that happened in Illinois.
How old is the name May?
May was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical May alive today was born around 1918, making them about 107 years old. About 11,000 people named May are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name May most popular?
May peaked in 1880, reaching #57 nationally. Today it ranks #1229, 1,172 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of May
The first of May is a labor holiday in most countries in the world, and the event it commemorates happened in Chicago. A general strike for the eight-hour day culminated in a rally at Haymarket Square in eighteen eighty-six; somebody threw a bomb at the police line, several officers and an unknown number of civilians died, and eight anarchists were convicted on evidence that did not connect most of them to the bomb. Four were hanged. The international labor movement adopted the date in their memory three years later, and it spread to nearly every country on earth. The United States, where it happened, deliberately did not adopt it: a September holiday was already in use and was preferred precisely because it carried none of the associations. So the one country with the events has the wrong date, and the rest of the world keeps the anniversary of something it did not see.
Meaningnot established
Not established
It may be the month, in which case it carries the name of a Roman goddess the Romans themselves could not explain. It may be a short form of Mary or of Margaret, both of which produced it in different English-speaking regions. Or it may be the English word used as a name in its own right. The registers do not distinguish them.
Pronouncing May
MAY
One syllable, said exactly like the month and the verb. Nothing about it needs explaining to anybody.
Nicknames for May
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1921977 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #57reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- +18.1%183 in 2025, from 155
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.
May in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Mays among us
people named May are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 8,783 born in 2025 was named May
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of May
- #1229
- May on the 2025 chart
- #724
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. May went to 183 girls in 2025, but Mai is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 238, which makes it the 724th most-given girls’ name of the year — 505 places above the chart.
- May183
- Mai55
About 1 girl in 6,753 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 8,783 for May 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
Fashion outlook
May is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where May is headed
May 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.
May beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to May in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters fit any field on any form and cannot be misspelled.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- It is short, clear and carries across a room.
- It is also a very common English verb, which makes it easy to lose in a sentence.
- Mae and Mai are both recorded and will be written for it.
- Its origin in any given family is usually unrecoverable, so the meaning question has three answers.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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May
Feminine · #1229 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mays are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 11,000 people named May are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell May?
- May is the most-used spelling in US records — 183 of the 238 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Mai.
- How popular is the name May in 2025?
- May ranks #1229 among US girl names in 2025, with 183 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name May?
- About 1 in every 8,783 US girls born in 2025 was named May — 183 in all.
- Will my child share the name May with classmates?
- May will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside May
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Xitlali#1229 · Ehlani#1229 · Anaia#1229 · Mariela#1229 · Alisha#1229 · Shay#1225 · Aiyana#1225 · Zhamira#1225
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles May? See the current top 100.
Choosing between May and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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