Mayah
Feminine
Mayah is Maya with an h, and Maya is one of the most genuinely multi-sourced names in use anywhere. At least four unrelated languages arrived at it independently, and each of them means something different by it.
How old is the name Mayah?
Mayah first appears in US birth records in 1988 — 37 years ago. The typical Mayah alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 3,000 people named Mayah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mayah most popular?
Mayah peaked in 2015, reaching #1362 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, 1,416 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Mayah
Each road is real and none is derived from the others. In Indian thought maya names the veil of appearances that philosophy tries to see past, and it is used as a name in India with that weight understood. In Greek myth Maia is one of the Pleiades, and the Romans took her as a goddess of growth and gave May her name. Hebrew Maya is a twentieth-century Israeli name. American use draws on all three at once, which is why the name feels international without belonging to anywhere in particular. The added h in Mayah is a modern American spelling and carries no meaning.
Meaningnot established
Not established
There is no single answer and that is the honest position. Sanskrit maya means illusion — the appearance the world presents — and is a serious philosophical term. Greek Maia is the mother of Hermes and the nurse-goddess who gave her name to the month of May. Hebrew Maya is modern and connected to mayim, 'water'. And there is the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, a separate matter again. The name genuinely belongs to all of them, and choosing one meaning means silently discarding the rest.
Pronouncing Mayah
MY-ah
Two syllables, stress on the first, the opening rhyming with my. MAY-ah is also heard and follows the Greek Maia; both are widely used in American English and the family's choice settles it.
Nicknames for Mayah
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
- 1988
- Most girls named
- 2015174 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1362reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- −27.4%61 in 2025, from 84
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.
Mayah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- माया in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Maia in Greek — related form
- Maya in Hebrew — related form
- Maya in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Mayahs among us
people named Mayah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Mayah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mayah
- #2778
- Mayah on the 2025 chart
- #53
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mayah went to 61 girls in 2025, but Maya, Maia and Maiya 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 — 2,725 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 26,349 for Mayah 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 Candra test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mayah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Candra climbed just as high around 1984, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Candra's path sketches the road Mayah is walking now.
Mayah 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 Mayah is headed
Mayah 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.
Mayah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mayah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Recognized in India, Israel, Greece and the English-speaking world at once, which almost no name manages.
- Two open syllables, easy in any mouth, and short enough for any surname.
- May is a natural short form and a complete name of its own.
- Maya is the standard spelling and this one will be corrected in writing for life.
- Its meaning depends entirely on which tradition is meant, and the Sanskrit sense — illusion — surprises families who expected something simpler.
- Maya, Mayah, Maia and Miya all circulate and are easily confused.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Mayah to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Mayah
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mayahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,000 people named Mayah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mayah?
- Mayah is one of 5 recorded spellings. Maya is the more common one — 3,712 births in 2025 against 61 for Mayah.
- How popular is the name Mayah in 2025?
- Mayah ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mayah?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Mayah — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mayah with classmates?
- Mayah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mayah
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 Mayah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mayah and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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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