Mayu
A feminine Japanese name translated as "true grape" or "cocoon".
Name Census estimates that about 201 living Americans carry the first name Mayu. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mayu today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mayu births was 2005 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mayu. 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 Mayu with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
201
~ 1 in 1,705,245 Americans
Peak year
2005
11 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,763
Tracked since 1990
Census
Mayu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 446 people with the first name Mayu, which placed it at #22,352 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
#22,352
National first-name rank
People counted
446
446 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
79.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mayu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Mayu 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 Mayu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander79.1% · 353
- Two or more races7.8% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 31
- White4.3% · 19
- Black or African American1.8% · 8
Popularity
Mayu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mayu from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 75 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mayu 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 Mayu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mayu
The given name Mayu has its origins rooted in Japanese culture and language. It is believed to have emerged sometime around the 7th century CE during the Asuka period of ancient Japan.
The name Mayu is derived from the Japanese word "mayu" which translates to "eyebrow" or "eyelash." This connection to physical features suggests that the name may have initially been used to describe someone with particularly striking or beautiful eyes or eyelashes.
Mayu can also be traced back to the Japanese word "mayuru," which refers to a type of peacock. In this context, the name may have been associated with grace, beauty, and the vibrant colors of the peacock's feathers.
While there are no direct references to the name Mayu in ancient Japanese texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been in use among the nobility and upper classes during the Heian period (794-1185 CE).
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mayu can be found in the historical records of the Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333 CE), where a noblewoman named Mayu no Tsubone was mentioned as a lady-in-waiting to the shogun's wife.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mayu, including:
1. Mayu Watanabe (1891-1975), a Japanese author and poet known for her works exploring themes of love, nature, and femininity.
2. Mayu Takeuchi (born 1982), a Japanese voice actress known for her roles in popular anime series such as "Ouran High School Host Club" and "Fairy Tail."
3. Mayu Iizuka (born 1991), a Japanese professional tennis player who has won several singles and doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.
4. Mayu Watanabe (born 1994), a Japanese singer and member of the popular J-pop girl group AKB48.
5. Mayu Tsuruta (born 1998), a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed with the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion.
The name Mayu has maintained its popularity in Japan over the centuries, with its meaning and associations evolving to reflect contemporary cultural values and ideals.
People
Mayu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mayu 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
Mayu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mayu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 201 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mayu 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 1,705,245 US residents.
Is Mayu a common name?
We classify Mayu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 204 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mayu most popular?
The single biggest year for Mayu was 2005, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mayu is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mayu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 446 people with the name Mayu, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,352 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 Mayu 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 Mayu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mayu leans strongly female. 432 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 15 male bearers (3.4%). 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 Mayu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Mayu most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mayu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.1% (353 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 Mayu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mayu a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mayu 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 Mayu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mayu 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 Mayu 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 Mayu?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.