Maha
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "great" or "exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 1,901 living Americans carry the first name Maha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maha today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maha births was 2002 (79 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maha. 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.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 180,302 Americans
Peak year
2002
79 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,195
Tracked since 1964
Popularity
Maha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maha from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 556 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Maha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maha 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 Maha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mahas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. New York, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Maha, while Ohio, Massachusetts, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 73 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maha
The name Maha has its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that has been influential in the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the word "maha," which means "great" or "mighty." The name first emerged during the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
In Hindu mythology, the word "maha" is often used as a prefix to denote greatness or significance. For instance, the Hindu deity Lord Shiva is sometimes referred to as "Mahadeva," meaning "the great god." The name Maha is also found in various Hindu scriptures, including the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Puranas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maha can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. The epic features several characters with the name Maha, including Maharaja Maha and Mahasalya, who were both kings.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Maha. One of the most famous was Maha Kassapa (circa 5th century BCE), a renowned Buddhist monk and one of the principal disciples of the Buddha. He is regarded as the leader of the First Buddhist Council, which compiled the teachings of the Buddha after his death.
Another prominent figure was Maha Vira (599-527 BCE), the 24th Tirthankara (ford-maker) of Jainism, a major Indian religion. He is revered as the last and most influential of the Tirthankaras and is credited with establishing the core principles of Jainism.
In more recent times, Maha Chakri (1782-1832) was a famous Siamese (Thai) king who reigned from 1782 to 1809. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential monarchs of the Chakri Dynasty, which continues to rule Thailand to this day.
Maha Vihara (1901-1963) was a renowned Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and scholar who played a significant role in the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 20th century. He founded the Vidyalankara University, one of the first modern Buddhist universities in the country.
Maha Bodhi Society (1891-1963) was an influential Indian Buddhist reformer and the founder of the Maha Bodhi Society, an organization dedicated to the revival and propagation of Buddhism in India. He worked tirelessly to restore and preserve many ancient Buddhist sites and monuments in India.
People
Maha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maha 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
Maha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,901 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maha 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 180,302 US residents.
Is Maha a common name?
We classify Maha as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,955 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maha most popular?
The single biggest year for Maha was 2002, when 79 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maha is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Maha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maha 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.
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.