Maia
A feminine given name of Greek origin meaning "great one" or "earth mother".
Name Census estimates that about 17,123 living Americans carry the first name Maia. It sits at #459 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maia today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maia births was 2022 (752 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maia. 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
17K
~ 1 in 20,017 Americans
Peak year
2022
752 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#459
Tracked since 1950
Popularity
Maia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maia from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 5,123 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Maia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maia 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 Maia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Maia, while Mississippi, Nebraska, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 345 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maia
The name Maia has its origins in ancient Roman mythology, derived from the name of the goddess Maia, who was the personification of the earth's fertility and an embodiment of the concept of growth. This name is believed to have originated from the Latin word "maius" or "maior," meaning "great" or "larger," reflecting the goddess's role in promoting abundance and growth.
Maia was particularly revered during the month of May, which was named after her in the Roman calendar. In ancient Roman culture, the month of May was associated with the blossoming of spring, and the goddess Maia was celebrated as a symbol of this season's renewal and fertility.
The earliest known reference to the name Maia can be found in the writings of ancient Roman authors, such as Ovid and Virgil, who mentioned her in their works on Roman mythology. Ovid's "Fasti" and Virgil's "Aeneid" both contain references to the goddess Maia and her significance in Roman religious traditions.
Throughout history, the name Maia has been bestowed upon various influential figures. One notable example is Maia, the eldest of the seven sisters known as the Pleiades in Greek mythology. In the 4th century BCE, the Greek philosopher Plato mentioned Maia in his writings, referring to her as the "mother of the divine and lovely Hermes."
Another famous bearer of the name Maia was Maia, the mother of the Roman emperor Augustus (63 BCE - 14 CE), who played a significant role in shaping the Roman Empire during its formative years.
In the 20th century, the name gained popularity with the birth of Maia Plisetskaya (1925 - 2015), a renowned Russian prima ballerina who was considered one of the greatest ballet dancers of her time.
Additionally, Maia Sandu, born in 1972, is the current President of Moldova, serving since 2020. She has played a crucial role in promoting democratic reforms and strengthening Moldova's ties with the European Union.
The name Maia has also been associated with notable figures in the arts and literature, such as Maia Morgenstern, a Romanian actress born in 1962, and Maia Kozeva, a Bulgarian writer born in 1974.
People
Maia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maia 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
Maia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,123 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maia 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 20,017 US residents.
Is Maia a common name?
We classify Maia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,481 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maia most popular?
The single biggest year for Maia was 2022, when 752 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maia is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Maia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maia 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.