Maelle
A feminine French name of uncertain origin, possibly a variation of Marie.
Name Census estimates that about 471 living Americans carry the first name Maelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maelle today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maelle births was 2010 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maelle. 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 Maelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
471
~ 1 in 727,716 Americans
Peak year
2010
51 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,722
Tracked since 2001
Census
Maelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 379 people with the first name Maelle, which placed it at #25,119 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
#25,119
National first-name rank
People counted
379
379 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maelle is White at 56.5%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Maelle 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 Maelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.5% · 214
- Black or African American26.6% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 32
- Two or more races5.3% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Popularity
Maelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maelle 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 278 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Maelle remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maelle 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 Maelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Maelle, while Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maelle
The given name Maelle has its origins in the French language. It is a feminine form of the male name Mael, which is derived from the Breton word "mael" meaning "prince" or "chief". The name Maelle was particularly popular in Brittany, a region in northwestern France with a distinct cultural identity and language related to Welsh and Cornish.
The earliest recorded use of the name Maelle dates back to the Middle Ages in Brittany. It was a common name among the Breton nobility and aristocracy during this period. The name gained wider popularity in France during the Renaissance era, particularly among the French aristocracy who were often influenced by Breton culture and traditions.
In ancient Breton folklore and legends, Maelle was often associated with strong female characters and heroines. One notable example is the legendary figure of Maelle the Fair, a princess renowned for her beauty and courage who is said to have defended her kingdom from invaders in the 6th century.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Maelle. One of the earliest recorded figures was Maelle de Rohan (1195-1257), a Breton noblewoman and heiress who played a significant role in the political affairs of the Duchy of Brittany during the 13th century.
Another prominent figure was Maelle de Bretagne (1332-1384), a Breton princess and Countess of Montfort who led her troops in the Breton War of Succession against the French crown during the Hundred Years' War.
In the realm of literature, Maelle de la Tour d'Auvergne (1495-1531) was a French poet and noblewoman known for her contributions to the Renaissance poetry movement in France.
In more recent times, Maelle Maurice (1914-1994) was a French actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions during the mid-20th century.
Maelle Ricker (born 1978) is a Canadian snowboarder who won a gold medal in the snowboard cross event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The name Maelle has maintained its popularity in France and other French-speaking regions over the centuries, often chosen for its historical and cultural significance, as well as its melodic and feminine sound.
People
Maelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maelle 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
Maelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 471 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maelle 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 727,716 US residents.
Is Maelle a common name?
We classify Maelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 475 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Maelle was 2010, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maelle is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 379 people with the name Maelle, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,119 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 Maelle 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 Maelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 376 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Maelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maelle is White at 56.5%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Maelle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.5% (214 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 Maelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maelle 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 Maelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maelle 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 Maelle 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 many people share the name Maelle?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.