girl's name
Mae
ma-AY
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 3
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 136,154
the United States
#500
2025 births
Mae is a girl's name in France, generally read as a form of Mae or as a feminine of the Breton Mahé. It ranks ninety-fourth in France, and Mae ranks 181st in Ireland, so the two spellings serve different markets.
- Mae is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 1918, when 2,769 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 5,581 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Mae over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,652 |
| 1890s | 10,948 |
| 1900s | 12,767 |
| 1910s | 21,634 |
| 1920s | 22,906 |
| 1930s | 12,998 |
| 1940s | 9,032 |
| 1950s | 5,578 |
| 1960s | 2,172 |
| 1970s | 830 |
| 1980s | 606 |
| 1990s | 654 |
| 2000s | 1,714 |
| 2010s | 4,427 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,523 |
What Mae means
Mae has no single meaning. Read as Mae it descends from May and so from Mary, or from the Roman goddess Maia; read as a feminine of Mahé it carries the sense of Matthew, gift of God.
Where Mae comes from
Maé sits between two lines. Mae in English is a short form of Mary or Margaret and also relates to May, the month named for the Roman Maia, goddess of growth; that gives the frequently cited glosses of pearl, bitter and drop of the sea, all of which belong to Mary rather than to Mae itself. Separately, French readers connect Maé to the Breton Mahé, the Breton form of Matthew, of which it looks like a feminine. Because both readings are live in France, reference works give the name variously, and neither can be called wrong. The acute accent marks the final vowel as sounded.
Mae in use
Maé ranks ninety-fourth in France with about 925 births in 2025 and its peak in our records is 2021. The unaccented Mae is what other markets record, and it sits considerably higher in Ireland at 181st. Our data carries the name from 1984 and holds more than 135,000 births across spellings, so the family of forms is much larger than the French figure alone suggests.
How popular is Mae?
In 2025, Mae was given to 594 babies in the United States, ranking #500 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Mae is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Mae is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Maé | Maé is Mae written with an acute accent in France, and the spelling parents there overwhelmingly choose: it ranks #94 in France, against #5,741 for Mae. | 10,160 |
| Maë | Maë is Mae written with a diaeresis in France, and the spelling parents there overwhelmingly choose: it ranks #490 in France, against #5,741 for Mae. | 1,540 |
Names that peaked alongside Mae
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Mae also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Mae over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Mae in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Mae
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Mae — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Mae
What does the name Maé mean?
There is no single answer. Read as Mae it relates to Mary or the goddess Maia; read as a feminine of Mahé it means gift of God.
Is Maé the same as Mae?
The accented French spelling is usually treated as a form of it, though registers count them separately.
How do you pronounce Maé?
ma-AY, two syllables, with the accent marking the final vowel.
Where is Mae most popular?
Ireland, at 181st, considerably higher than the French figure for Maé.
Is Mae a girl's or a boy's name?
Mae is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Mae?
Mae has 1 syllable.
Is Mae a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Mae currently ranks #94 in the United States. After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.