Mairi
A feminine Scottish form of Mary, meaning "beloved" or "wished-for child".
Name Census estimates that about 273 living Americans carry the first name Mairi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mairi today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mairi births was 2011 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mairi. 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 Mairi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
273
~ 1 in 1,255,510 Americans
Peak year
2011
11 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,537
Tracked since 1960
Census
Mairi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 407 people with the first name Mairi, which placed it at #23,894 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
#23,894
National first-name rank
People counted
407
407 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mairi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mairi is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Mairi 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 Mairi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.8% · 333
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 33
- Two or more races3.9% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 15
- Black or African American1.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Mairi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mairi 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 78 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mairi 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 Mairi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mairi
The name Mairi originated from the Scottish Gaelic language, derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miriam or Mary. Its earliest recorded use dates back to the Middle Ages in Scotland.
In Gaelic, Mairi is a diminutive form of Moire, the Scots Gaelic equivalent of Mary. The name has its roots in the ancient Hebrew name Miryam, which means "bitter" or "beloved". It was the name of the biblical figure, Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ in the Christian tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mairi comes from the 14th century, when it was mentioned in the Annals of Loch Cé, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In the annals, a woman named Mairi Nic Domhnaill is mentioned as the wife of a prominent Irish chieftain.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Mairi. Mairi Mhor nan Oran (c. 1615 – c. 1680) was a renowned Scottish Gaelic poet from the Isle of Harris. Her poetic works have been widely studied and celebrated for their vivid depictions of life in the Scottish Highlands.
Mairi Anndra Nic Iain (1818 – 1912), better known as Mary MacLean, was a Scottish Gaelic poet and storyteller from the Isle of Mull. She was renowned for her captivating tales and her contributions to preserving the rich oral tradition of the Scottish Gaelic culture.
Mairi Mhòr nan Oran (c. 1660 – c. 1720), also known as Marion Campbell, was a Scottish Gaelic poet and songwriter from Argyll. Her compositions, often focused on themes of love and nature, have been passed down through generations and remain an integral part of the Scottish Gaelic musical heritage.
Mairi Bhàn Loch Aillse (c. 1615 – c. 1690), whose full name was Mary Cameron, was a Scottish Gaelic poet and lyricist from Lochaber. She is remembered for her powerful and evocative poetry that captured the struggles and resilience of the Highland people during turbulent times.
Mairi Nic a' Phearsain (1778 – 1857), also known as Mary MacPherson, was a Scottish Gaelic poet and songwriter from Skye. Her works, often inspired by her love for the Highlands and its natural beauty, have been cherished and sung by generations of Gaelic speakers.
People
Mairi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mairi 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
Mairi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mairi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mairi 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 1,255,510 US residents.
Is Mairi a common name?
We classify Mairi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 284 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mairi most popular?
The single biggest year for Mairi was 2011, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mairi is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mairi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 407 people with the name Mairi, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,894 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 Mairi 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 Mairi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mairi appears almost entirely female. Of the 409 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 Mairi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mairi is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Mairi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mairi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.8% (333 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 Mairi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mairi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mairi 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 Mairi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mairi 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 Mairi 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 Mairi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.