BabyNameLens · Girl names · Boy names
“Diminutive of Margaret, Mary, or Mabel; also a variant of May” — English origin
Girl's name · #501 in the US (2025) · Comeback
Mae was #52 in 1892, slipped to #2703 by 1993, and has climbed back to #501 today. About 115,000 girls have carried it since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records. Together with its spelling variant May (#1233), Mae would rank around #401 with about 780 births last year — the newborns split about 76/24 between Mae and May.
Around the world: about 1 in 810 girls in Ireland (2025) · about 1 in 1,500 girls in Scotland (2025) · about 1 in 1,800 girls in N. Ireland (2025).
Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 41 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.
Among 148 notable people named Mae:
Entertainers appear 2.53× more often than among typical names — e.g. Mae West, American actress, singer, screenwriter, and writer (1893–1980).
Similar names: Maggie · Frankie · May · Rae · Lillie · Mabel
Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.