unisex name
Mahé
ma-AY
- Origin Breton
- Gender Unisex
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 100 (France)
- Births on record 15,123
France
#68
2025 births
Mahé is a unisex name of Breton origin meaning "gift of God," a Breton form of Matthew. It ranks sixty-eighth in France and is recorded in our data as unisex, and it is essentially unknown outside France.
- Mahé is a name of Breton origin.
- Peaked in France in 2022, when 1,060 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 659 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1980.
Mahé over time
Births per decade in France, 1980s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1980s | 45 |
| 1990s | 230 |
| 2000s | 2,505 |
| 2010s | 6,725 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,570 |
What Mahé means
Mahé means gift of God. It carries the meaning of Matthew, from the Hebrew Mattityahu, and reaches it through Breton rather than through the Latin or Greek forms that produced Mathieu.
Where Mahé comes from
Mahé is the Breton form of Matthew, from the Hebrew Mattityahu, gift of Yahweh. Breton reduced the name in its own way, as it did with Maël and Malo, giving a two-syllable form quite unlike the French Mathieu. It exists as a Breton surname as well as a first name, which is the usual pattern for saints' names in the region. The name also belongs to the largest island of the Seychelles and to a former French colony in India, both named after Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, an eighteenth-century governor — so the place names descend from the personal name rather than the other way round.
Mahé in use
Mahé ranks sixty-eighth in France with about 930 births in 2025 and is recorded in our data as unisex. Our records carry it from 1980 with a peak in 2022. It is one of the least exported names in the French top hundred: the unaccented Mahe appears beyond 4,400 in England and Wales and beyond 13,600 in the United States. It rises alongside Maël and Malo as part of the same Breton revival.
How popular is Mahé?
In 2025, Mahé was given to 895 babies in France, ranking #68 that year. It is one of the most popular names in France.
Where Mahé is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Mahé is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mahe | Mahe is a spelling of Mahé, used in Canada, where it ranks #3,374. | 928 |
| Mahë | Mahë is Mahé written with a diaeresis, used in France, where it ranks #1,292. | 230 |
Names that peaked alongside Mahé
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Mahé also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Mahé over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Mahé 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 Mahé
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Mahé — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Mahé
What does the name Mahé mean?
Mahé means "gift of God." It is the Breton form of Matthew.
Is Mahé a boy's or a girl's name?
Both. Our data records it as unisex in France.
Is Mahé in the Seychelles named after the name?
After a person who bore it — the governor Mahé de La Bourdonnais.
How do you pronounce Mahé?
ma-AY, two syllables, with the accent marking the final vowel.
When was Mahé most popular?
Mahé peaked in 2022, when 1,060 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Mahé a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Mahé currently ranks #68 in France. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.