My
Feminine · “beautiful”
My is given to both — 1,101 girls and 239 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
My is a Vietnamese name and a Swedish one and they are not related. In Vietnamese it means beautiful and is also the ordinary word for America. In Sweden it is a short form of Maria, and it belongs to the smallest and fiercest character in the Moomin books.
How old is the name My?
My first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical My alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 1,100 people named My are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name My most popular?
My peaked in 1982, reaching #1357 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 10,575 places below that high. See the whole 1982 chart.
My appears on this list:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of My
Vietnamese is a tone language and the tone is part of the word, so a name written without it in an American record has lost half its identity. My with the right tone means beautiful and is a common woman's name; it is also the country's name for America, from a Chinese transcription. The Swedish name arrived separately and is much smaller: My is a Scandinavian pet form of Maria, and Tove Jansson gave it to Little My, a character about the size of a thumb who is rude to everybody and entirely fearless. Generations of Scandinavian children know her, which has done the name no harm at all.
Meaningscholars disagree
beautiful
Vietnamese My, written with a tone mark the American record cannot hold, means beautiful; the same syllable with the same tone is the word for the United States. Swedish My is a short form of Maria. In English it is also simply the possessive pronoun, which is unavoidable.
Pronouncing My
MEE
One syllable. The Vietnamese and Swedish names both have the vowel of see. English readers who meet it in print will say it as the possessive pronoun, with the vowel of eye, which is a different word.
Nicknames for My
Limited
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
- 1971
- Most girls named
- 198291 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1357reached in 1982
- Change vs 2024
- −22.2%7 in 2025, from 9
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.
My in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- My in Vietnamese — related form
- My in Swedish — related form
Mys among us
people named My are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named My
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Melrose test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. My's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Melrose climbed just as high around 1926, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Melrose's path sketches the road My is walking now.
My 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
My beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to My in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two letters and one syllable: unmistakable across a room.
- It serves either child, and the records show both.
- It is a real name in two unconnected traditions.
- In English it is an extremely common word, and sentences containing it become confusing.
- The Vietnamese tone cannot be recorded on an American form, so part of the name is lost.
- Two-letter names regularly fail minimum-length checks on forms and websites.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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My
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named My are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name My in 2025?
- My ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name My?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named My — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name My with classmates?
- My will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside My
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Missouri#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles My? See the current top 100.
Choosing between My 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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