Mayda
A feminine name possibly derived from Arabic roots meaning "rain" or "heavy rain".
Name Census estimates that about 494 living Americans carry the first name Mayda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mayda today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mayda births was 1953 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mayda. 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 Mayda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
494
~ 1 in 693,835 Americans
Peak year
1953
16 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,603
Tracked since 1920
Census
Mayda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,958 people with the first name Mayda, which placed it at #7,684 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
#7,684
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,958 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mayda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayda is Hispanic at 87.1%. The next largest groups are White (9.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%). 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 Mayda 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 Mayda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino87.1% · 1,705
- White9.7% · 190
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 28
- Black or African American1.1% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
- Two or more races0.3% · 5
Popularity
Mayda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mayda from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 115 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mayda 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 Mayda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maydas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Mayda, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mayda
The given name Mayda is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with its roots tracing back to the Middle Eastern region during the medieval period. It is derived from the Arabic word "mida," which translates to "praise" or "gratitude." The name carries connotations of appreciation, thankfulness, and reverence.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Mayda can be found in ancient Arabic poetry and literature, where it was often used as a symbolic representation of gratitude towards the divine or as a way to express admiration for nature's beauty. It was a popular name among Arabic-speaking populations during the Islamic Golden Age, a period marked by significant cultural, scientific, and intellectual advancements.
In the 11th century, a renowned Arab philosopher and polymath, known as Mayda al-Andalusi, gained prominence for her contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. Born in Cordoba, Spain, in 1009, she was celebrated for her groundbreaking work on the motion of celestial bodies and her innovative approach to solving complex mathematical problems.
Another notable figure with the name Mayda was Mayda bint al-Muqtadir, a 10th-century princess and scholar from the Abbasid Caliphate. She was highly regarded for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence, poetry, and literature, and her contributions to the preservation of cultural heritage during a period of political turmoil.
During the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt, which ruled from 1250 to 1517, the name Mayda gained popularity among the ruling elite. One prominent figure was Mayda al-Sayfi, a 14th-century noblewoman and patron of the arts, who played a significant role in promoting cultural exchange and supporting artistic endeavors in the region.
In more recent times, Mayda Sizar, a Palestinian writer and activist born in 1935, gained recognition for her poignant works that explored themes of displacement, identity, and the struggle for justice. Her literary contributions have left a lasting impact on the Palestinian literary landscape and have inspired generations of writers and activists.
While the name Mayda may have evolved in its spelling and pronunciation across different cultures and regions, its historical roots and associations with gratitude, appreciation, and intellectual pursuits have remained intact throughout the centuries.
People
Mayda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mayda 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
Mayda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mayda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 494 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mayda 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 693,835 US residents.
Is Mayda a common name?
We classify Mayda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 566 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mayda most popular?
The single biggest year for Mayda was 1953, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mayda is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mayda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,958 people with the name Mayda, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,684 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 Mayda 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 Mayda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mayda appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,962 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Mayda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayda is Hispanic at 87.1%. The next largest groups are White (9.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%). 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 Mayda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mayda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (1,705 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 Mayda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mayda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mayda 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 Mayda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mayda 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 Mayda 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 Mayda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.