Maya Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Girl Names Like Maya

Maya Name Origin: Indian (Sanskrit)
Pronunciation: my-ah
See what 28 people think about Maya

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Maya Name Meaning

A sweet pick on the rise, Maya has the swoon-worthy meaning of “dream.” A name of mixed origins, she’s most associated with her Indian roots.

With her soft sound, Maya is right at home among the top girl names of today. Like the similar Mia, she’s short and sweet, yet she has an exotic flair that’s hard to miss. The inner Y styling matches many of today’s top picks like Aaliyah and Skylar and her M start rides the wave along with other popular M names for girls like Mila, Madison, and Mackenzie.

She’s effortlessly feminine, the perfect name for a little girl or adult alike. Like her meaning, Maya is as light and airy as a dream. A great pick for a little girl with her eyes on the sky, she’s ready and waiting to carry a little one to new heights. She’s a whimsical name with a soothing feel, her poetic ties to Maya Angelou adding to her appeal for many. Delicate and delightful, it’s no surprise that parents are loving Maya.

Maya does have other spelling variations as well, including Maia and Mya, though Maya is by far the most popular. Similar names to Maya include Kaya, Lilah, and Amaya.

Maya Name Popularity

How popular is the name Maya? Here’s everything we know.

Year	Rank	# Births	% Births
1910	—	0	0%
1911	—	0	0%
1912	—	0	0%
1913	—	0	0%
1914	—	0	0%
1915	—	0	0%
1916	—	0	0%
1917	—	0	0%
1918	—	0	0%
1919	—	0	0%
1920	—	0	0%
1921	—	0	0%
1922	—	0	0%
1923	—	0	0%
1924	—	0	0%
1925	—	0	0%
1926	—	0	0%
1927	—	0	0%
1928	—	0	0%
1929	—	0	0%
1930	—	0	0%
1931	—	0	0%
1932	—	0	0%
1933	—	0	0%
1934	—	0	0%
1935	—	0	0%
1936	—	0	0%
1937	—	0	0%
1938	—	0	0%
1939	—	0	0%
1940	—	0	0%
1941	—	0	0%
1942	—	0	0%
1943	—	0	0%
1944	—	0	0%
1945	—	0	0%
1946	—	0	0%
1947	—	0	0%
1948	—	0	0%
1949	—	0	0%
1950	—	0	0%
1951	—	0	0%
1952	—	0	0%
1953	2,015	5	0.0003%
1954	—	0	0%
1955	—	0	0%
1956	—	0	0%
1957	—	0	0%
1958	2,263	5	0.0003%
1959	1,799	9	0.0005%
1960	1,751	11	0.0006%
1961	2,207	5	0.0003%
1962	1,555	18	0.001%
1963	1,957	8	0.0004%
1964	1,577	17	0.001%
1965	1,920	8	0.0005%
1966	1,426	22	0.0014%
1967	1,500	20	0.0013%
1968	1,240	35	0.0023%
1969	1,072	58	0.0038%
1970	900	95	0.006%
1971	960	83	0.0055%
1972	904	87	0.0064%
1973	948	78	0.006%
1974	845	107	0.0082%
1975	757	137	0.0107%
1976	693	162	0.0126%
1977	539	289	0.0214%
1978	568	260	0.0193%
1979	513	341	0.0242%
1980	505	358	0.0245%
1981	571	277	0.0188%
1982	550	299	0.02%
1983	610	236	0.016%
1984	682	196	0.0132%
1985	692	207	0.0136%
1986	752	178	0.0118%
1987	648	239	0.0157%
1988	671	240	0.0154%
1989	621	294	0.0182%
1990	401	614	0.037%
1991	440	538	0.033%
1992	368	655	0.041%
1993	276	979	0.0628%
1994	246	1,101	0.0717%
1995	228	1,217	0.0807%
1996	202	1,418	0.0947%
1997	182	1,654	0.1118%
1998	123	2,675	0.1787%
1999	113	2,837	0.1894%
2000	113	3,010	0.197%
2001	110	3,003	0.1993%
2002	90	3,541	0.2363%
2003	84	3,843	0.2526%
2004	83	3,763	0.2469%
2005	73	4,428	0.2896%
2006	57	5,046	0.3223%
2007	62	4,695	0.2976%
2008	71	4,265	0.2759%
2009	61	4,390	0.2937%
2010	66	3,961	0.2749%
2011	64	4,012	0.2816%
2012	63	3,970	0.2786%
2013	72	3,820	0.2683%
2014	74	3,945	0.2708%
2015	68	4,121	0.2832%
2016	64	4,067	0.2821%
2017	61	3,999	0.2865%
2018	61	3,873	0.2819%
2019	64	3,773	0.2787%
2020	61	3,621	0.2845%
2021	56	3,677	0.3008%
2022	51	4,199	0.3183%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Maya

If you like Maya, you’ll love these other names like Maya.

What names are diminutives of Maya?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Maya sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Maya, but shorter.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender
May	The fifth month	English
Mimi	A diminutive form of Miriam and, through the French, of Wilhelmina.	French

What names are variants of Maya?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Maya.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Maeja
Maia	Great; mother	Greek
Maiya	Rice valley	Japanese
Mayah	Great; mother	Greek
Meya		Scandinavian
Miah		Spanish
Miya	Temple	Japanese
Mya	Dream	Indian (Sanskrit)

What names sound like Maya?

If you like how Maya sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Maya.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Kaya	Restful place, yew tree, forgiveness; home; stone; willow, wise child; the one with the beautiful body, profile	Turkish
Mia	Dear	Scandinavian
Mila	Dear and gracious	Slavic
Mira	Wonderful; peace; propserous	Spanish

Myra	Myrrh	Greek

What names are similar to Maya?

Find a name that’s like Maya, but just a little bit different.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Aria	Vocal solo	English
Celeste	Heavenly	Latin
Layla	Night	Arabic
Lilah	Night	Arabic
Lucia	Of the light	Italian
Lucy	Of the light	English
Luna	The moon	Latin
Nina	Little girl	Spanish
Stella	Celestial star	Latin
Veda	Knowledge, wisdom	Indian (Sanskrit)

Lists With Maya

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Maya.

Siblings of Maya

Mamas with kids named Maya also have kids with these names.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Ollie	Olive tree	Latin
Mariah	Of the sea	English
Gracelynn	Graceful	English
Logan	Small hollow	Scottish

Damien	To tame	French
Christina	Follower of Christ	Greek
Antonio	Unknown meaning	Italian
India	Of the Indus River	Indian (Sanskrit)

Share Your Thoughts

28 Comments

Maya May 29 at 7:40 am

We liked that the name Maya has many meanings in many languages. Our daughter is very mixed race (Asian, white, and black) so we felt that it was appropriate to name her something that didn’t come from just one culture. It also helps that we only know one person named Maya, and she’s very nice.

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Valeriya Feb 27 at 9:05 am

Wanted something simple and timeless, and that would sound the same or similar in different cultures/languages.
For the middle name I picked Genevieve as I always liked it, and it seemed fitting to have a longer middle name with a short first name.

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Daniela Dec 16 at 9:05 pm

Maya is an ancient civilization and we love it.

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Maria Sep 30 at 2:20 pm

Short, sweet, simple. Elegant, grows well with age 🙂

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Nina Silva Parris Feb 2 at 7:09 am

I have a friend named Maya.

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Amya Jun 1 at 6:29 am

My husband picked my daughters name Maya which originally he wanted to name my first born daughter. But I insisted on naming her Kayla. But then we had identical twin daughters and he finally got the chance to name a child Maya! I named my other twin Marina. Maya is the feisty and bossy twin. And Marina is sweet and calm. It’s funny how at the end of the article it gives examples of names that go with Maya because I have two daughters Maya & Kayla and my name is Amya. Pretty similar I would say.

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Maya Apr 4 at 1:05 pm

Maya is my name, and you can get confused on who you really are. I still love it. I think you should use it for a child.

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Morena Aug 5 at 1:14 pm

I’m hare Krsna and there’s a meaning for the name – Yoga Maya is a goddess that allows us to see God beyond the illusion of this world. It is also the same pronunciation in Portuguese (I’m Brazilian) and in the US.

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Jeny Jun 13 at 6:54 pm

Maya means love

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- Maya Mar 23 at 1:14 am
  
  My name is maya so I do not know if it is good or not I feel like it is not
  
  Reply
Amanda Jun 13 at 7:37 am

We wanted something that works in English and Hebrew (my husband’s native language), and also to honor a beloved relative who was named Madja (Polish). Maya as a name works in many languages in fact, and has lots of different meanings depending on the language.
We debated on the spelling – the one thing we disliked was that when spelled with a “y”, it makes a lot of people think of the ancient Mayans – not that that’s a problem per se, just that we didn’t want it to have any particular association with any country/culture/place, especially with cultures that are not our own. We thought of spelling it Maia instead, which makes the name’s meaning more tied to Greek and Roman myths, but then thought it would be more likely to be mispronounced or misspelled with that spelling. So we settled on Maya!

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Katia Brower May 27 at 9:55 am

She was born in May and it means Roman goddess of spring

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Julia Allegra Apr 8 at 12:11 pm

It’s a lovely femenine name, named after my life mentor a family friend.

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Lola Apr 7 at 6:30 am

We chose Maya for our first baby! I am from Poland and Dad is Welsh so we want a universal spelling, stuck between Maya, Maia or Mya. We would also like some middle name ideas, please.

I want a long middle name to compliment the shortness (and sweetness!) of Maya. I like floral names and I want the name to be vintage feminine and classy to match her first name. I would prefer the name to be uncommon, and not too popular, strange names welcome! Please share your suggestions or help me pick out of my list below:

Rosalind – feminine, vintage, classy, floral. A long pretty name with a nice sound.
Beatrix – A charming and feminine name which adds uniqueness to the vintage style Beatrice.
Or Esmeralda – just a favourite, Grandma’s name

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Maya Mar 25 at 12:16 pm

aw

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Maya Mar 19 at 12:13 pm

My name is Maya Pabon

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Hanna Mar 12 at 10:51 am

No specific reason. It’s cute and fits in well with our other four children.

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Leah Mar 8 at 10:08 am

She really is a dream.

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Emily Jan 21 at 11:58 am

VERY cute name. However though, Maya is more of a Chinese or Hebrew name. She is very cute though. She is cuddly, small, cute AND fun. I do recommend this name for any mom looking into it 🙂

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Maya Rubin Jan 19 at 12:03 pm

lol. my name <3

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Christine Cherry Apr 9 at 10:15 am

A Good Big Sister

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Jessica Dec 14 at 8:51 am

I named her after a best friend of mine an after my grandmother

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Serenity Oct 3 at 11:59 am

I chose Maya because it’s something that you dont hear often. when choosing my children’s names, I wait for it to just call to me. it’s as though it’s what that child’s name was meant to be. I don’t have any reasons to not like the name Maya.
maya is always happy. specific about what she wants and knows how to Express what she wants. maya is a very calm baby the majority of the time and she SLEEPS

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Tiffany Flowers Sep 4 at 12:23 am

We chose maya because of our love of maya Angelou’s poetry.

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Ginger Aug 18 at 10:40 am

Her dad actually picked it out while we were watching the show girl meets world. We almost changed it to Rowan.

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Brooke Jun 8 at 9:17 am

My other daughters name is Mia so I just loved the names together!

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Nicole Jun 6 at 9:28 pm

Maya means princess. The version of the meaning we liked that is in Arabic. My husband actually loved that name, so we had decided on that. I have no dislikes about the name we chose.

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Danielle Apr 13 at 2:17 pm

Beautiful, simple name, that is easy to pronounce and spell. It contrasts nicely with her more complicated Dutch last name.

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Maya