Maya
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "illusion" or "magic".
Name Census estimates that about 118,085 living Americans carry the first name Maya. It sits at #51 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maya today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maya births was 2006 (5,053 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Charlie (117,732).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maya. 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
- • Although Maya is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 163 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Maya 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
118K
~ 1 in 2,903 Americans
Peak year
2006
5,053 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2020 SSA rank
#51
Tracked since 1940
Gender
Gender distribution for Maya
Out of the 120,002 babies given the name Maya since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Maya as a male name
- Ranked #11,504 in 2020
- 6 male births in 2020
- Peak: 2003 (13 births)
Maya as a female name
- Ranked #51 in 2024
- 4,220 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (5,047 births)
Popularity
Maya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maya from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 40,104 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Maya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maya 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 Maya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Maya, while Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,316 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maya
The name Maya has its origins in the Sanskrit language, tracing back to ancient India. It is derived from the word "māyā," which means "illusion" or "magic" in Hindu philosophy. This name was first used in the Vedic period, around 1500-500 BCE, and can be found in sacred texts like the Upanishads and the Puranas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maya is in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, where it is the name of a celestial being, Maya Danava, who was a skilled architect and builder. The name is also associated with the Hindu goddess of illusion, Mahamaya, who is considered the personification of the cosmic forces that create and sustain the universe.
In the Buddhist tradition, Maya is the name of the mother of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. She was a princess of the Shakya clan and is often depicted in Buddhist art as a symbol of motherhood and compassion.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Maya. One of the most famous is Maya Angelou (1928-2014), an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, who is best known for her autobiographical work "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."
Another notable Maya is Maya Plisetskaya (1925-2015), a Russian prima ballerina who was considered one of the greatest dancers of the 20th century. She was renowned for her exceptional technique and dramatic performances.
In ancient Mesoamerica, the Maya civilization, which flourished from around 250-900 CE, was named after the same root word as the name Maya, possibly meaning "illusion" or "magic." While not directly related to the name's Sanskrit origins, this civilization's name has helped popularize the name Maya in modern times.
Other notable Mayas in history include Maya Deren (1917-1961), an American avant-garde filmmaker and choreographer, and Maya Siban (born 1975), a Swedish writer and journalist of Kurdish descent.
The name Maya has transcended cultural and geographic boundaries, carrying with it a rich history and diverse meanings, from illusion and magic to motherhood and artistic excellence.
People
Maya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maya 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
Maya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 118,085 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maya 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 2,903 US residents.
Is Maya a common name?
We classify Maya as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 120,002 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maya most popular?
The single biggest year for Maya was 2006, when 5,053 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maya is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Maya a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Maya 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.