Mazi
A masculine Nigerian name meaning "great one" or "ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 1,117 living Americans carry the first name Mazi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Mazi today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mazi births was 2023 (217 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mazi. 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
- • Mazi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 6 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 306,853 Americans
Peak year
2023
217 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,210
Tracked since 1977
Census
Mazi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 397 people with the first name Mazi, which placed it at #24,319 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
#24,319
National first-name rank
People counted
397
397 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mazi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mazi is Black at 48.9%. The next largest groups are White (35.3%) and Two or More Races (9.6%). 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 Mazi 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 Mazi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.9% · 194
- White35.3% · 140
- Two or more races9.6% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Mazi
Mazi leans heavily male at 82.7% of total registrations, but 195 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mazi as a male name
- Ranked #1,210 in 2024
- 167 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (198 births)
Mazi as a female name
- Ranked #10,765 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (22 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mazi on both sides of the split. Of the 399 people counted with this name, 241 were male (60.4%) and 158 were female (39.6%).
Popularity
Mazi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mazi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 826 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
Mazi 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 Mazi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mazis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Mazi, while Pennsylvania, Kentucky, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mazi
The name Mazi is believed to have originated from the Igbo language spoken in southeastern Nigeria. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, and their language dates back several centuries.
According to linguistic experts, the name Mazi is derived from the Igbo word "ezi," which means "good" or "virtuous." The prefix "ma" is a respectful title added to the name, similar to the English prefix "Mr." or "Master." Thus, the name Mazi can be interpreted as "Good Master" or "Virtuous Master."
While the exact origin of the name is unclear, it is believed to have been used by the Igbo people for centuries as a name bestowed upon respected elders or leaders in the community. The name may have been given to individuals who demonstrated exceptional wisdom, integrity, or leadership qualities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mazi can be found in the writings of Olaudah Equiano, a former slave who published his autobiography, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano," in 1789. In his work, Equiano mentions encountering a man named Mazi during his travels in West Africa.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Mazi. One of the most famous was Mazi Nwafor Orizu (1888-1953), a Nigerian politician and educator who played a significant role in the country's independence movement. Orizu served as the president of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, a prominent political organization that advocated for Nigerian self-governance.
Another prominent figure was Mazi Nnamdi Azikiwe (1904-1996), a renowned Nigerian statesman and a leading figure in the struggle for Nigerian independence. Azikiwe served as the first President of Nigeria after the country gained independence from British rule in 1960.
In the field of literature, Mazi Nwachukwu Anyo (1918-2006) was a renowned Nigerian poet and playwright. His works, such as "The Tragedy of Anowa" and "The Old Dance," explored themes of cultural identity and the clash between traditional and modern values.
Mazi Okoro Nkem (1938-2018) was a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist who founded the Mazi Group of Companies, a conglomerate with interests in various sectors, including oil and gas, construction, and hospitality.
While the name Mazi is primarily associated with the Igbo people of Nigeria, it has also been adopted by individuals of other ethnic backgrounds, particularly those with connections to West African culture and history.
People
Mazi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mazi 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
Mazi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mazi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mazi 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 306,853 US residents.
Is Mazi a common name?
We classify Mazi as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,125 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mazi most popular?
The single biggest year for Mazi was 2023, when 217 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mazi is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mazi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 397 people with the name Mazi, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,319 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 Mazi 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 Mazi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mazi on both sides of the split. Of the 399 people counted with this name, 241 were male (60.4%) and 158 were female (39.6%). 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 Mazi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mazi is Black at 48.9%. The next largest groups are White (35.3%) and Two or More Races (9.6%). 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 Mazi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mazi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.9% (194 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 Mazi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mazi a male name?
Yes, 82.7% of people registered as Mazi in the SSA data are male. 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 Mazi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mazi 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 Mazi 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 Mazi?
You can see how many people share the name Mazi on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.