Maize
A name of Spanish origin referring to the maize plant.
Name Census estimates that about 267 living Americans carry the first name Maize. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Maize today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maize births was 2022 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maize. 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 Maize with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
267
~ 1 in 1,283,724 Americans
Peak year
2022
36 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,347
Tracked since 2002
Census
Maize in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 223 people with the first name Maize, which placed it at #35,856 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
#35,856
National first-name rank
People counted
223
223 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maize
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maize is White at 52.9%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Hispanic (10.3%). 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 Maize 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 Maize at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.9% · 118
- Black or African American15.7% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino10.3% · 23
- Two or more races9.4% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.0% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Maize
Maize is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 269 total registrations, 90 (33.5%) were male and 179 (66.5%) were female.
Maize as a male name
- Ranked #5,347 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (18 births)
Maize as a female name
- Ranked #6,527 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (26 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Maize on both sides of the split. Of the 226 people counted with this name, 62 were male (27.4%) and 164 were female (72.6%).
Popularity
Maize: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maize from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 149 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maize 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 Maize during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maizes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Maize
The name Maize is derived from the Spanish word "maíz," which itself comes from the Taino language spoken by indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. The word "maíz" referred to the staple crop that we know today as corn or maize. The name has its origins in the pre-Columbian era, before the arrival of European explorers in the Americas.
Maize was an essential crop for many Native American civilizations, including the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. It played a significant role in their cultural traditions, mythology, and daily sustenance. However, there is no evidence of the name being used as a personal name during this time period.
The earliest recorded use of Maize as a given name dates back to the late 19th century, when it began to appear in some English-speaking regions. It is speculated that the name was adopted as a symbolic reference to the importance of the crop in the Americas.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Maize was Maize Raiford Kendrick, an American blues singer born in 1892 in Mississippi. He was known for his influential contributions to the development of blues music in the early 20th century.
Another noteworthy person named Maize was Maize Doherty, an Irish-American actress born in 1916 in New York City. She had a successful career in theater and television, appearing in various Broadway productions and TV shows throughout the mid-20th century.
In the field of sports, Maize Rage is the name given to the student section of the University of Michigan's basketball team. The name, which became popular in the 1990s, pays homage to the school's maize and blue colors while also referencing the fervor of the student fans.
Maize Aderaldo was a Brazilian writer and journalist born in 1920. He was known for his contributions to the literary and cultural scene in Brazil during the mid-20th century.
Lastly, Maize Curriko Kemmons Wilson was an American businessman and entrepreneur born in 1913. He founded the Holiday Inn hotel chain, which became one of the largest and most successful hospitality companies in the world.
While not a common name, Maize has been used throughout history as a given name, often carrying symbolic or cultural references to the importance of the maize crop in various regions of the Americas.
People
Maize + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maize 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
Maize: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maize?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 267 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maize 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 1,283,724 US residents.
Is Maize a common name?
We classify Maize as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maize most popular?
The single biggest year for Maize was 2022, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maize is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maize in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 223 people with the name Maize, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,856 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 Maize 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 Maize?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Maize on both sides of the split. Of the 226 people counted with this name, 62 were male (27.4%) and 164 were female (72.6%). 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 Maize?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maize is White at 52.9%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Hispanic (10.3%). 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 Maize most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maize in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.9% (118 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 Maize in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maize a female name?
Yes, 66.5% of people registered as Maize 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 Maize still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maize 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 Maize 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 the name Maize?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.