Maia
Meaning
goddess name, "mother, nurse"
The story
Maia is Greek, the eldest of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, and by an old, disputed tradition the month of May carries the name of her Roman counterpart, a separate spring goddess the ancients conflated with her early and often. The American record is a staircase of six consecutive rises, higher every decade from the 1950s through the 2010s, about 58 becoming 5,100, with 4,200 so far this decade, closing on the full 2010s with years to run. It goes to girls without exception in our records: about 18,200 to none. Maya, the spelling with several homelands, runs much bigger at about 123,800 and carries its own story here; Maia is the version that stays closest to the star chart. The mother of Hermes, a month of spring by tradition, a staircase with no stumble in it: the quietest Pleiad has the steadiest climb.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Maia peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
11,744 people · the #1,525 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 17,241 · median age 2
Among people named Maia living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 7,319 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Maia
Most people given the name Maia in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Maia deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Maia truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Maia fits with your family’s names and surname.
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