Maya

Where Maya comes from

* From Maria, ultimately from Hebrew, * From Maia, from Latin, from Ancient Greek Μαῖα (Maîa)
— Wiktionary's entry for Maya
  • Hebrew
  • Latin
  • Greek
  • Sanskrit
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1925
    Maya Plisetskaya born
    Russian ballet dancer
  2. 1928
    Maya Angelou born
    American poet, author, and civil rights activist
  3. 1940
    First appearance
    #4,349 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  4. 2023
    Peak, #49
    4,092 babies named Maya — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name
  • A female given name from Hebrew, of modern usage, variant of Maria, equivalent to English Mary
  • A female given name from Latin, variant of Maia, equivalent to English May
  • A female given name from Greek
  • A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
Namesakes
  • Maya Angelou · American poet, author, and civil rights activist, 1928–2014
  • Maya Plisetskaya · Russian ballet dancer, 1925–2015
  • Maya Yoshida · Japanese association football player, born 1988
  • Maya Hawke · American actress and singer-songwriter, born 1998
  • Maya Rudolph · American actress and comedian, born 1972

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.