Mayli
A feminine name of Chinese origin meaning "beautiful jasmine".
Name Census estimates that about 568 living Americans carry the first name Mayli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mayli today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mayli births was 2024 (86 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mayli. 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 Mayli with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
568
~ 1 in 603,441 Americans
Peak year
2024
86 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,202
Tracked since 1997
Census
Mayli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 509 people with the first name Mayli, which placed it at #20,333 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
#20,333
National first-name rank
People counted
509
509 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
57.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mayli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayli is Hispanic at 57.6%. The next largest groups are White (27.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.3%). 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 Mayli 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 Mayli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino57.6% · 293
- White27.7% · 141
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.3% · 42
- Two or more races4.3% · 22
- Black or African American2.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Mayli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mayli from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 206 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
Mayli 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 Mayli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maylis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, California, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Mayli, while Florida, Washington, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mayli
The given name Mayli originates from the Kazakh language, spoken primarily in Kazakhstan and parts of Central Asia. Its roots can be traced back to the Turkic languages of the region, with the earliest recorded use dating back to around the 12th century.
Mayli is derived from the Kazakh word "mai," which means "oil" or "butter." This connection to a natural, nourishing substance suggests that the name may have been given to children as a symbolic wish for abundance and prosperity. Additionally, the suffix "-li" is a common ending in Kazakh names, often indicating a quality or characteristic.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mayli can be found in the epic poem "Kutadgu Bilig" (Book of Royal Instruction), written by the Turkic poet Yusuf Khass Hajib in the 11th century. This work, considered a masterpiece of Turkic literature, mentions a character named Mayli, though little is known about their specific role or significance.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Mayli. One of the earliest was Mayli Qazaqbayeva (1890-1964), a Kazakh poet and educator who played a significant role in promoting women's education and literary movements in her country during the early 20th century.
Another prominent figure was Mayli Orazova (1912-1980), a celebrated Kazakh actress and theater director who helped establish the National Theater of Kazakhstan and was awarded the prestigious title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1967.
In the realm of sports, Mayli Yelikbayeva (born 1980) is a former Kazakh boxer who won a gold medal in the lightweight division at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, becoming the first Kazakh woman to achieve this feat.
Moving to the field of literature, Mayli Turusbekova (1936-2018) was a renowned Kazakh novelist and screenwriter, best known for her iconic novel "Akmola," which explored the lives of Kazakh nomads during the early 20th century and their struggles with the challenges of modernity.
Lastly, Mayli Abenova (1939-2021) was a prominent Kazakh physicist and academic, who made significant contributions to the study of nuclear physics and served as the rector of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University from 1988 to 2000.
While these are just a few examples, the name Mayli has been borne by individuals across various professions and eras, reflecting its enduring presence in Kazakh culture and the rich history behind its origins and meaning.
People
Mayli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mayli 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
Mayli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mayli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 568 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mayli 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 603,441 US residents.
Is Mayli a common name?
We classify Mayli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 573 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mayli most popular?
The single biggest year for Mayli was 2024, when 86 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mayli is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mayli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 509 people with the name Mayli, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,333 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 Mayli 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 Mayli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mayli appears almost entirely female. Of the 502 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Mayli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayli is Hispanic at 57.6%. The next largest groups are White (27.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.3%). 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 Mayli most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mayli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.6% (293 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 Mayli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mayli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mayli 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 Mayli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mayli 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 Mayli 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 Mayli as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.