May

Primarily a girl's name · 99% girls

Meaning

May is an English feminine given name. It is derived from the name of the month, which comes from Maia, the name of a Roman fertility goddess. It can also be a variant of the Arabic name Mai مي, which either means water or little gazelle.

From Wikipedia

May first appears in the data in 1880 and has been recorded in 145 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1919 with 981 babies (rank #194 that year). In 2024 it was given to 168 girls (rank #1,357). Its popularity has been fairly steady recently.

Numerology of May

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of May yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

3Destiny numberThe creativeExpressive, sociable, lifted by playful energy.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
8Soul urgeThe achieverDriven, capable, comfortable wielding influence.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
4PersonalityThe builderPractical, steady, gets results through hard work.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

49,915

Total babies (all years)

145

Years in the data

981

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Also a character in

In Pokémon: May — Hoenn trainer

Famous people named May

May Whittyfilm actor · b. 1865
May Robsonfilm actor · b. 1858
May Calamawyfilm actor · b. 1986

Share your May story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular girls' names

Names ranked near May in 2024

Other girls' names starting with M

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	462	#57
1881	451	#58
1882	510	#59
1883	532	#57
1884	564	#61
1885	607	#61
1886	602	#64
1887	648	#61
1888	782	#63
1889	723	#64
1890	751	#65
1891	696	#68
1892	753	#70
1893	693	#73
1894	763	#71
1895	691	#80
1896	671	#82
1897	595	#91
1898	696	#86
1899	571	#95
1900	744	#91
1901	550	#95
1902	560	#107
1903	541	#107
1904	555	#109
1905	530	#119
1906	524	#119
1907	544	#120
1908	515	#134
1909	483	#146
1910	594	#138
1911	541	#149
1912	698	#153
1913	695	#167
1914	769	#175
1915	974	#175
1916	938	#190
1917	945	#195
1918	961	#200
1919	981	#194
1920	956	#204
1921	977	#205
1922	855	#224
1923	864	#220
1924	868	#222
1925	849	#221
1926	767	#232
1927	744	#236
1928	705	#236
1929	579	#267
1930	554	#270
1931	481	#285
1932	440	#301
1933	404	#309
1934	371	#325
1935	352	#338
1936	318	#355
1937	292	#379
1938	274	#404
1939	257	#423
1940	285	#408
1941	251	#431
1942	280	#435
1943	219	#504
1944	227	#473
1945	203	#514
1946	195	#572
1947	233	#559
1948	221	#559
1949	205	#580
1950	184	#623
1951	222	#577
1952	178	#667
1953	171	#700
1954	190	#676
1955	183	#695
1956	165	#760
1957	146	#843
1958	144	#852
1959	141	#869
1960	139	#890
1961	127	#959
1962	119	#982
1963	109	#1,025
1964	113	#1,013
1965	109	#999
1966	105	#1,007
1967	97	#1,054
1968	100	#1,049
1969	93	#1,156
1970	93	#1,210
1971	113	#1,069
1972	78	#1,310
1973	98	#1,135
1974	89	#1,231
1975	89	#1,263
1976	77	#1,388
1977	85	#1,342
1978	81	#1,430
1979	108	#1,207
1980	129	#1,087
1981	145	#1,006
1982	154	#964
1983	130	#1,069
1984	126	#1,100
1985	135	#1,079
1986	115	#1,213
1987	101	#1,358
1988	87	#1,537
1989	101	#1,458
1990	84	#1,751
1991	87	#1,699
1992	74	#1,903
1993	79	#1,839
1994	95	#1,602
1995	83	#1,757
1996	86	#1,744
1997	85	#1,778
1998	69	#2,115
1999	73	#2,110
2000	89	#1,917
2001	91	#1,917
2002	91	#1,947
2003	92	#1,980
2004	85	#2,130
2005	95	#2,000
2006	75	#2,476
2007	92	#2,170
2008	94	#2,149
2009	80	#2,413
2010	107	#1,892
2011	88	#2,169
2012	106	#1,899
2013	109	#1,859
2014	138	#1,575
2015	130	#1,652
2016	131	#1,651
2017	128	#1,681
2018	129	#1,645
2019	133	#1,601
2020	119	#1,712
2021	122	#1,705
2022	155	#1,446
2023	156	#1,433
2024	168	#1,357