Maeleigh
A feminine given name of uncertain origin, potentially Irish Gaelic.
Name Census estimates that about 823 living Americans carry the first name Maeleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maeleigh today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maeleigh births was 2016 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maeleigh. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Maeleigh with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
823
~ 1 in 416,469 Americans
Peak year
2016
65 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,302
Tracked since 2000
Census
Maeleigh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 497 people with the first name Maeleigh, which placed it at #20,692 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#20,692
National first-name rank
People counted
497
497 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maeleigh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maeleigh is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.2%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Maeleigh described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Maeleigh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.1% · 423
- Two or more races7.2% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 21
- Black or African American1.6% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Popularity
Maeleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maeleigh from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 469 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Maeleigh remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maeleigh by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Maeleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maeleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Georgia, Tennessee, Texas recorded the most babies named Maeleigh, while Oklahoma, New York, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maeleigh
The name Maeleigh is a modern invented name that does not have a clear origin or historical significance. It appears to be a creative spelling variation of the name Maile, which is a Hawaiian name meaning "leafy greens" or "verdant." However, the addition of the "eigh" ending is not rooted in any particular language or culture.
While the name Maile has its roots in the Hawaiian language and culture, the spelling variation Maeleigh is a recent invention. There are no known historical references, ancient texts, religious scriptures, or records that mention this particular spelling of the name.
Since Maeleigh is a modern invented name, it is challenging to find any notable historical figures or individuals who bore this name in the past. However, here are five individuals named Maile, the name from which Maeleigh is likely derived:
1. Maile Duarte (born 1988), an American professional wrestler and model.
2. Maile Meloy (born 1972), an American novelist and short story writer.
3. Maile Ingle (born 1987), an American former professional soccer player.
4. Maile Fergerstrom (born 1979), an American former professional tennis player.
5. Maile Carmichael (born 1982), an American voice actress and singer.
It is worth noting that these individuals are named Maile, which is the Hawaiian name from which Maeleigh is likely derived. There are no known historical figures specifically recorded with the spelling Maeleigh.
In summary, while the name Maile has its roots in Hawaiian culture, the spelling variation Maeleigh is a modern invention without a clear historical or cultural origin. It does not appear in ancient texts, scriptures, or historical records, and there are no notable historical figures specifically recorded with this particular spelling.
People
Maeleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maeleigh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Maeleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maeleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 823 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maeleigh going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 416,469 US residents.
Is Maeleigh a common name?
We classify Maeleigh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 829 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maeleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Maeleigh was 2016, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maeleigh is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maeleigh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 497 people with the name Maeleigh, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,692 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Maeleigh in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Maeleigh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maeleigh appears almost entirely female. Of the 503 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Maeleigh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maeleigh is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.2%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Maeleigh most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maeleigh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (423 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Maeleigh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maeleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maeleigh in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Maeleigh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maeleigh in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Maeleigh can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Maeleigh?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.