Maiah
A feminine name of uncertain origins, potentially derived from Maya or Mary.
Name Census estimates that about 1,039 living Americans carry the first name Maiah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maiah today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maiah births was 1998 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maiah. 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.
Key insights
- • Maiah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 329,889 Americans
Peak year
1998
63 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,224
Tracked since 1992
Popularity
Maiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maiah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 392 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Maiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maiah 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 Maiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maiahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Maiah, while Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maiah
The name Maiah has its origins in the Hebrew language and is a variant of the name Maia. It is believed to have emerged during the ancient period of the Middle East, around the time of the Old Testament.
Maiah is derived from the Hebrew word "mayim," which means "water" or "spring." The name is thought to have been given to children as a symbol of life, purity, and renewal, much like the life-giving properties of water.
In ancient Hebrew texts and scriptures, the name Maiah is not explicitly mentioned. However, the root word "mayim" appears frequently, particularly in references to rivers, wells, and other water sources that held significant cultural and religious significance.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Maiah can be traced back to the 16th century, where it appears in various historical records and documents from the Middle Eastern region. Among the notable historical figures who bore this name was Maiah bint Talha, a 7th-century Arab woman known for her poetry and literary contributions during the early Islamic era.
Another historical figure with the name Maiah was Maiah al-Qurashi, a 9th-century Islamic scholar and jurist from Cordoba, Spain. Her contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence and legal studies were highly regarded during her time.
In the 17th century, Maiah Sultana was a prominent figure in the Ottoman Empire. She was a concubine of Sultan Murad IV and later became the chief consort of Sultan Ibrahim I, playing an influential role in the Ottoman court.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Maiah Khanum was a renowned Afghan poet and writer. Her works were widely celebrated and contributed significantly to the literary landscape of Afghanistan during her lifetime.
Lastly, in the early 20th century, Maiah Saidi was a pioneering Egyptian feminist and activist who fought for women's rights and social reforms. She was a prominent figure in the Egyptian feminist movement and played a crucial role in advancing the cause of gender equality in her country.
People
Maiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maiah 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
Maiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,039 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maiah 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 329,889 US residents.
Is Maiah a common name?
We classify Maiah as "Rare". It ranks above 90.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,053 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Maiah was 1998, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maiah is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Maiah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maiah 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.