Name profile

Mae

feminine

93First-name usabilityHighly workable
Evidence coverageLimited

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Variant spelling of May, which functions in English as a short form of Margaret (from Greek margarites, "pearl") or Mary, and independently carries a seasonal association with the month of May.

Why it works

  • English speakers will almost certainly pronounce it correctly on the first try
  • spelling is short and predictable — rarely needs repeating

Popularity

Uncommon — #501 in the latest U.S. ranking.

Meaning and origin

Mae means Variant spelling of May, itself most commonly used as a short form of Margaret (ultimately from Greek margarites, "pearl") or Mary; as a standalone name it also carries the seasonal association with the month of May.

Used primarily in English-speaking contexts as either a short form of Margaret/Mary-family names or a standalone given name in its own right; carries a vintage, early-20th-century American feel reinforced by its association with actress Mae West.

Documented origin: Variant spelling of May, which functions in English as a short form of Margaret (from Greek margarites, "pearl") or Mary, and independently carries a seasonal association with the month of May.

Documented as a variant or related form of another name.

How it travels

English and Turkish are shown by default; German is included when it adds a meaningfully different reading.

EnglishMAY — US Englishresearched pronunciation
TurkishNo strong structural signal of Turkish/English divergence for this spelling.deterministic phonetic analysis
GermanNo strong structural signal of German/English divergence for this spelling.deterministic phonetic analysis

Spelling stability: highbased on letter-pattern analysis, not a documented linguistic fact.

Popularity without panic

Uncommon#501 in the latest U.S. ranking.

Still uncommon, but no longer unfamiliar.

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Real-world considerations

  • Spelling note: May.
  • Whether a given bearer of "Mae" is using it as a short form of Margaret/Mary or as a standalone nature/month name is not something etymology alone can resolve; both uses are documented and this profile does not assume one over the other.
Explore alternatives
May

Documented as a related name or variant form.

Margaret

Documented as a related name or variant form.

Mary

Documented as a related name or variant form.