2000
#11,346
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,553
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.95
Rare Last name
Mah
A Chinese surname meaning "horse" or referring to someone who worked with horses.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,912 Americans carry the last name Mah. That puts it at #11,797 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.85 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 117,704 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mah surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Mah with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.9K
1 in 117,704
Census rank
#11,797
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,539 bearers of the surname Mah in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.85 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11797th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mah, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 74.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and White (8.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mah
The surname MAH originated in northern Germany, likely emerging during the Middle Ages between 1000-1300 CE. It may be derived from the Old German word "mahha" meaning "kinsman" or "relative". Alternatively, it could stem from a place name like Mahndorf or Mahlendorf, villages in Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg respectively.
Early records of the name can be found in 15th century tax rolls and parish registers across Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Mahe family is listed in a 1498 census of Lübeck, one of the principal cities of the Hanseatic League. Johan Mahe, a merchant and alderman, is noted as a signatory on a 1525 trade agreement with Danish authorities.
The Domesday Book, a great Norman census from 1086, does not reference MAH as it primarily covers England. However, variants like Maa and Mahe appear in Dutch and French records from that era. Willems Maa is recorded as a shipwright in Rotterdam in 1235. Giles de Mahe held lands near Picardy, France in the late 12th century according to monastic charters.
Notable bearers of the name over time include Hans Mah (c.1475-1541), a master baker in Rostock renowned for his gingerbread recipes. Johann Bernhard Mah (1718-1783) was a Lutheran pastor in Stargard, Prussia and published several volumes of sermons. During the Napoleonic Wars, Prussian cavalry officer Friedrich von Mah (1779-1857) fought at Borodino and Leipzig.
In the 19th century, Carl Mah (1832-1887) emigrated from Mecklenburg to Australia where he became a prosperous sheep rancher near Ballarat. His descendant Alfred Mah (1870-1939) held a seat in the Australian House of Representatives. Serving in both World Wars, British general Sir Wilfred Mah (1892-1967) commanded forces in Egypt and Italy during World War 2.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mah
Among Census respondents with the surname Mah, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 74.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and White (8.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Mah bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Mah surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander74.2% · 1,884
- Two or more races8.5% · 215
- White8.4% · 214
- Black or African American5.2% · 131
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 82
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mah
Mah appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#12,124
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,571
+18 bearers (+0.7%)
Per 100,000 0.87
Rank movement Down 778 places
2020
#11,797
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,539
-32 bearers (-1.2%)
Per 100,000 0.85
Rank movement Up 327 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,346 | 2,553 | 0.95 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,124 | 2,571 | 0.87 | +18 bearers (+0.7%) | Down 778 places |
| 2020 | #11,797 | 2,539 | 0.85 | -32 bearers (-1.2%) | Up 327 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Mah surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #12,124 | #11,797 | 2.7% |
| Count | 2,571 | 2,539 | -1.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.87 | 0.85 | -2.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mah bearers went from 2,571 to 2,539 (-1.2% change). The surname moved up 327 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,124 to #11,797.
FAQ
Mah surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mah?
Name Census estimates that about 2,912 living Americans carry the surname Mah. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 117,704 residents.
How common is Mah?
Mah ranks #11,797 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.85 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,539 people with the surname Mah. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,912), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.85 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.85 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Mah.
Has Mah become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mah went from 2,571 recorded bearers to 2,539. That is a decrease of 32 (-1.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #12,124 to #11,797.
What does the Census say about the background of Mah?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mah, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 74.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and White (8.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Mah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.2% (1,884 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mah appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (74.2%), Two or More Races (8.5%), White (8.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Mah (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Mah mean?
A Chinese surname meaning "horse" or referring to someone who worked with horses. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Mah (0.85 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Mah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.