Mayme
A feminine name of English origin meaning pearl.
Name Census estimates that about 825 living Americans carry the first name Mayme. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mayme today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mayme births was 1915 (291 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mayme. 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
- • The typical person named Mayme is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Maymes were born before 1970.
People living today
825
~ 1 in 415,460 Americans
Peak year
1915
291 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,740
Tracked since 1880
Census
Mayme in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,030 people with the first name Mayme, which placed it at #12,181 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
#12,181
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,030 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mayme
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayme is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Mayme 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 Mayme at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.7% · 749
- Black or African American16.5% · 170
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 32
- Two or more races2.9% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 23
Popularity
Mayme: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mayme from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 2,208 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mayme 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 Mayme during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maymes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Mayme, while Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 108 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mayme
The name Mayme is an English feminine given name that originated in the late 19th century as a variant spelling of the name Mary. It is thought to have derived from the French form of Mary, which is Marie. The name Mary itself is of Hebrew origin, coming from the Hebrew name Miryam, meaning "bitter" or "beloved."
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the name Mayme gained popularity in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was seen as a more modern and unique variation of the traditional Mary, appealing to parents seeking a distinctive name for their daughters.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mayme can be found in the 1880 United States Census, where a small number of individuals were listed with this spelling. Some of the earliest notable individuals with the name Mayme include Mayme Ream (1858-1914), an American painter and art instructor who lived during the late 19th century.
Another early bearer of the name was Mayme Gehru (1892-1955), an American actress and singer who performed on Broadway in the early 20th century. Mayme Whitmore (1892-1992) was an American actress and vaudeville performer who had a long career spanning several decades.
In literature, one of the earliest references to the name Mayme can be found in the novel "The Damnation of Theron Ware" by Harold Frederic, published in 1896. The novel features a character named Mayme Skinner, who plays a significant role in the story.
Throughout the 20th century, several other notable individuals bore the name Mayme. Mayme Revere (1900-1989) was an American actress and singer who appeared in Broadway musicals and films during the 1920s and 1930s. Mayme Claxton (1914-1997) was an American golfer who won several tournaments in the 1940s and 1950s.
While the name Mayme was relatively popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, its usage declined in the latter half of the 20th century and into the present day. However, it remains a part of the historical record and a unique variation of the classic name Mary.
People
Mayme + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mayme 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
Mayme: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mayme?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 825 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mayme 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 415,460 US residents.
Is Mayme a common name?
We classify Mayme as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,928 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mayme most popular?
The single biggest year for Mayme was 1915, when 291 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mayme is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mayme in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,030 people with the name Mayme, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,181 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 Mayme 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 Mayme?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mayme appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,028 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Mayme?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayme is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Mayme most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mayme in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (749 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 Mayme in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mayme a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mayme 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 Mayme still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mayme 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 Mayme 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 Mayme?
You can see how many people share the name Mayme on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.