Maira
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "rebellious" or "shining one".
Name Census estimates that about 6,026 living Americans carry the first name Maira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maira today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maira births was 1992 (290 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maira. 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 Maira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.0K
~ 1 in 56,879 Americans
Peak year
1992
290 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
1991 SSA rank
#2,756
Tracked since 1944
Census
Maira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,991 people with the first name Maira, which placed it at #2,469 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
#2,469
National first-name rank
People counted
10.0K
9,991 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maira is Hispanic at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.2%) and White (5.7%). 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 Maira 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 Maira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino84.2% · 8,411
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.2% · 818
- White5.7% · 569
- Black or African American1.0% · 99
- Two or more races0.8% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Maira
Out of the 6,296 babies given the name Maira since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Maira as a male name
- Ranked #7,872 in 1991
- 6 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1987 (6 births)
Maira as a female name
- Ranked #2,756 in 2024
- 62 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (290 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maira appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,988 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Maira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maira from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,147 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maira 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 Maira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mairas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Maira, while Ohio, Nevada, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 240 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maira
The name Maira has its roots in the ancient Sanskrit language, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Mira," which means "prosperous" or "peaceful." The name can also be traced back to the Persian language, where it is believed to have been derived from the word "Mir," which means "prince" or "leader."
One of the earliest known references to the name Maira can be found in the Hindu scriptures, particularly in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic poem. In this text, Maira is mentioned as a princess who was renowned for her beauty and wisdom.
Throughout history, the name Maira has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Maira Kalidas, a renowned Sanskrit poet and playwright who lived during the 4th or 5th century CE. His works, such as the play "Abhijnanashakuntalam," are considered literary masterpieces and have had a profound influence on Indian literature and culture.
Another significant figure bearing the name Maira was Maira al-Majlisi, a prominent Persian scholar and theologian who lived during the 17th century. He was known for his extensive writings on Islamic jurisprudence and theology, and his works are still widely studied in the Islamic world today.
In the realm of art, Maira Kalm was a notable German painter who lived during the 18th century. She is best known for her portraits and still-life paintings, which were highly acclaimed during her lifetime.
Moving to more recent times, Maira Mora was a celebrated Colombian singer and songwriter who rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s. Her music, which blended traditional Colombian folk styles with contemporary influences, helped to popularize Colombian culture both within the country and internationally.
Lastly, Maira Rosnarina was a prominent Malaysian politician and activist who played a significant role in the country's independence movement in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a prominent figure in the struggle against British colonial rule and later served as a member of parliament after Malaysia gained independence.
People
Maira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maira 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
Maira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,026 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maira 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 56,879 US residents.
Is Maira a common name?
We classify Maira as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,296 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maira most popular?
The single biggest year for Maira was 1992, when 290 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maira is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,991 people with the name Maira, or 3.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,469 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 Maira 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 Maira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maira appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,988 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Maira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maira is Hispanic at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.2%) and White (5.7%). 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 Maira most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Maira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (8,411 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 Maira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maira a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Maira 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 Maira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maira 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 Maira 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 have Maira as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.