Maily
A feminine name of French origin meaning "born in May".
Name Census estimates that about 544 living Americans carry the first name Maily. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maily today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maily births was 2010 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maily. 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 Maily with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
544
~ 1 in 630,063 Americans
Peak year
2010
48 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,782
Tracked since 1986
Census
Maily in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 695 people with the first name Maily, which placed it at #16,280 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
#16,280
National first-name rank
People counted
695
695 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
48.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maily
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maily is Hispanic at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (37.0%) and Two or More Races (9.4%). 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 Maily 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 Maily at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino48.2% · 335
- Asian and Pacific Islander37.0% · 257
- Two or more races9.4% · 65
- White4.7% · 33
- Black or African American0.7% · 5
Popularity
Maily: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maily from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 244 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Maily remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maily 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 Maily during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mailys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Maily, while New York, North Carolina, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maily
The name Maily has its origins in the Celtic language, tracing back to ancient Britain and Ireland during the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old Irish word "maille," meaning "gentle" or "humble." The name was initially popular among the Gaelic population before spreading to other regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maily is found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle of Irish history. The text mentions a notable figure named Maily mac Scandail, a prince of the Dál Riata kingdom in modern-day Scotland, who lived in the late 6th century.
In the 9th century, the name appeared in the Old Welsh language as "Meili," referring to a Welsh saint and hermit who lived in Pembrokeshire. Saint Meili's life and teachings were documented in the medieval hagiographies, contributing to the name's religious significance.
During the Middle Ages, the name Maily gained popularity across Europe, particularly in France and England. One notable bearer was Maily de Rouen, a Norman noblewoman who accompanied William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
In the 12th century, Maily de Gournay, a French theologian and philosopher, gained recognition for her contributions to scholastic thought. She was highly respected for her intellect and participated in theological debates with renowned scholars of her time.
Another prominent figure was Maily de Lusignan, a member of the royal House of Lusignan in the Kingdom of Cyprus during the 13th century. She played a significant role in the political affairs of the region and was known for her diplomatic skills.
In the 16th century, Maily Grevill, an English writer and poet, gained recognition for her literary works. Her poetry was celebrated for its lyrical beauty and delicate exploration of human emotions.
While the name Maily has its roots in ancient Celtic cultures, it has transcended geographical boundaries and historical eras, with notable bearers across various regions and time periods, each contributing to the rich tapestry of history and culture associated with this name.
People
Maily + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maily 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
Maily: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maily?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 544 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maily 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 630,063 US residents.
Is Maily a common name?
We classify Maily as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 550 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maily most popular?
The single biggest year for Maily was 2010, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maily is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maily in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 695 people with the name Maily, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,280 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 Maily 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 Maily?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maily appears almost entirely female. Of the 695 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Maily?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maily is Hispanic at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (37.0%) and Two or More Races (9.4%). 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 Maily most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Maily in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.2% (335 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 Maily in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maily a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maily 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 Maily still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maily 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 Maily 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 are called Maily?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.