Mayan
Of American Mayan origin, meaning "water formed from dew".
Name Census estimates that about 587 living Americans carry the first name Mayan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 57.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Mayan today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mayan births was 2022 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mayan. 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 Mayan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
587
~ 1 in 583,909 Americans
Peak year
2022
56 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,086
Tracked since 1990
Census
Mayan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 556 people with the first name Mayan, which placed it at #19,177 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
#19,177
National first-name rank
People counted
556
556 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mayan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayan is White at 33.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.0%) and Black (16.4%). 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 Mayan 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 Mayan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.5% · 186
- Hispanic or Latino29.0% · 161
- Black or African American16.4% · 91
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.4% · 80
- Two or more races5.4% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Mayan
Mayan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 594 total registrations, 250 (42.1%) were male and 344 (57.9%) were female.
Mayan as a male name
- Ranked #6,061 in 2024
- 15 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (24 births)
Mayan as a female name
- Ranked #5,086 in 2024
- 26 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (32 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mayan on both sides of the split. Of the 544 people counted with this name, 221 were male (40.6%) and 323 were female (59.4%).
Popularity
Mayan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mayan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 207 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
Mayan 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 Mayan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mayans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mayan
The name Mayan is derived from the Maya civilization, one of the most advanced ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica. The Maya people thrived in the region that is now modern-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras, from around 2000 BC to the 16th century AD.
The origin of the name Mayan can be traced back to the Maya language, which belongs to the Mayan language family. The word "Maya" is believed to come from the word "mayab," which means "the last water that fell from the sky" or "the last water that fell from heaven," according to the Maya creation myth.
The earliest known references to the name Mayan can be found in ancient Maya texts and inscriptions. The Maya people were known for their advanced writing system, using hieroglyphic script to record their history, mythology, and astronomical observations.
One of the earliest and most famous individuals with the name Mayan was Mayan, a Maya ruler who reigned over the city-state of Palenque in the late 7th century AD. He is renowned for the construction of the Temple of Inscriptions, a magnificent pyramid that served as his final resting place.
Another notable figure was Mayan, a Maya princess who lived in the 8th century AD. She was the daughter of Kʼinich Kan Bʼalam II, the ruler of the Maya city-state of Palenque, and is depicted in several carved reliefs found in the city's ruins.
In the 16th century, during the Spanish conquest of the Maya lands, a Maya leader named Mayan played a significant role in the resistance against the Spanish invaders. He led the Maya forces in the Battle of Mayan in 1524, which was a decisive victory for the Maya and delayed the Spanish conquest for several years.
During the colonial period, the name Mayan was also used by some Maya individuals who converted to Christianity. One such individual was Mayan, a Maya scholar and writer who lived in the 17th century. He is known for his work in documenting the Maya language and culture, which helped preserve valuable knowledge about the Maya civilization.
In more recent times, Mayan has been used as a given name by individuals of Maya descent, as well as by those who admire the rich cultural heritage of the Maya civilization. For example, Mayan Arce is a contemporary Maya artist and activist from Guatemala, known for her work in promoting indigenous rights and cultural preservation.
People
Mayan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mayan 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
Mayan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mayan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 587 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mayan 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 583,909 US residents.
Is Mayan a common name?
We classify Mayan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 594 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mayan most popular?
The single biggest year for Mayan was 2022, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mayan is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mayan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 556 people with the name Mayan, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,177 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 Mayan 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 Mayan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mayan on both sides of the split. Of the 544 people counted with this name, 221 were male (40.6%) and 323 were female (59.4%). 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 Mayan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayan is White at 33.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.0%) and Black (16.4%). 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 Mayan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mayan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.5% (186 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 Mayan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mayan a female name?
Yes, 57.9% of people registered as Mayan 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 Mayan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mayan 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 Mayan 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 share the name Mayan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.