Maya - Meaning of Maya

What does Maya mean?

Pronounce
Maya

[ 2 syll. ma-ya, may-a ] The baby girl name Maya is pronounced as MAA-Yaa-, MAYaa- or MEY-aa- †.

1: Maya is used chiefly in English and it is derived from Latin origins. The name Maya is derived as a re-spelling of the Roman name Maia, or else as a Latinate version of May. The Roman name could be of the Latin element 'maia' or else 'mai' (meaning great, big). The name was borne in Greek mythology by Maia, the eldest and most beautiful of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes by Zeus. In Roman mythology, the name was borne by Maia Maiestas, the goddess of spring; the name of the month May is derived from her name. Alternatively, the name could be from the Sanskrit word for 'illusion'. The first name was adopted by English speakers at the start of the 20th century, chiefly in the USA.

Maya has 15 variants that are used in English and other languages. English variants include Maaja, Maiah, Maie, Mayah, Mayam, Mayi, Miah (also used in Russian and Spanish), Miya, Moia, Moja, Mya, and Myah. Maia (Italian) and Maja (German and Scandinavian) are variants of Maya that are used in other languages. The spelling variant Maiya (Russian) is another foreign form.

2: Maya is of Sanskrit origin and it is used largely in the Indian language. The meaning here is 'dreams, illusion'.

A variant transcription of Maya is Miah (Indian).

Maya is a variant of the name May (English and Scottish) in the English language.

See also the related form, Sumaya.

See also the related categories, english, latin, roman, greek, element, zeus, dreams, month, mother, beautiful (fair), sanskrit, goddess, nurse, indian, and pleiades.

Maya is popular as a baby girl name. The name's popularity jumped from the 1960s up to the 2000s; before that, it was of only sporadic use. At the modest peak of its usage in 2006, 0.241% of baby girls were given the name Maya. It had a ranking of #57 then. The baby name has declined in popularity since then. In 2018, it ranked at #61 with a usage of 0.210%, but it was nonetheless the most popular out of all girl names in its family. Maya was thrice as popular as the next most popular name, Mya, in 2018.

Baby names that sound like Maya include Maaya, Maiah, Maiya, Maja, Meia, Miah, Mya, Myah, Maha, Mahaut, Mahi, Maho, Maija, Maillie, Maimee, Maimi, Maimie, Maimoon, Maimoun, and Maimun.

† English pronunciation for Maya: M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; Y as in "you (Y.UW)" ; AY as in "side (S.AY.D)" ; EY as in "ate (EY.T)"

Details of famous persons named Maya:
Architect Maya Lin, born Maya Ying Lin 5 October 1959, Athens, Ohio.
Author Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Johnson 4 April 1928, St. Louis, Missouri.