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.

Infographic of Maya name meaning, which is Maya means dream or illusion in Sanskrit and also appears in Greek mythology
Ask your friends & family about Maya…

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%

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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 Popularity Other Gender
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 Popularity Other Gender
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 Popularity Other Gender
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 Popularity Other Gender
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

English

20 Comments

  1. Maya means love

    Reply

  2. 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!

    Reply

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

    Reply

  4. None

    Reply

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

    Reply

  6. 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

    Reply

  7. aw

    Reply

  8. My name is Maya Pabon

    Reply

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

    Reply

  10. She really is a dream.

    Reply

  11. 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 🙂

    Reply

  12. lol. my name <3

    Reply

  13. A Good Big Sister

    Reply

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

    Reply

  15. 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

    Reply

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

    Reply

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

    Reply

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

    Reply

  19. 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.

    Reply

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

    Reply

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