How Many People Are Named Mae?
An estimated 23,464 people in the United States have the first name Mae. It is predominantly female (99.5%). The average bearer is 50 years old, and Mae peaked in popularity in 1918 with 2,769 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Mae as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Mae paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Mae is overwhelmingly female, 606 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
23,464
About 1 in 14,608 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.5% confidence
Average Age
50
years old
Peak Year
1918
2,769 births
Total Registered
114,841
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Mae
Mae is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 114,841 total births registered, 99.5% were female.
Mae as a male name
Ranked #13,425 in 2023
5 male births in 2023
Peak: 1926 (24 births)
Mae as a female name
Ranked #530 in 2024
574 female births in 2024
Peak: 1918 (2,756 births)
Mae: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Mae span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 22,905 babies were registered. Mae has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Mae by Decade
How has Mae tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,652 | 5 | 5,647 | |
| 1890s | 10,948 | 30 | 10,918 | |
| 1900s | 12,767 | 56 | 12,711 | |
| 1910s | 21,634 | 104 | 21,530 | |
| 1920s | 22,905 | 146 | 22,759 | |
| 1930s | 12,999 | 139 | 12,860 | |
| 1940s | 9,032 | 85 | 8,947 | |
| 1950s | 5,578 | 36 | 5,542 | |
| 1960s | 2,172 | 0 | 2,172 | |
| 1970s | 830 | 0 | 830 | |
| 1980s | 606 | 0 | 606 | |
| 1990s | 654 | 0 | 654 | |
| 2000s | 1,714 | 0 | 1,714 | |
| 2010s | 4,427 | 0 | 4,427 | |
| 2020s | 2,923 | 5 | 2,918 | |
Mae by State
Birth registrations for Mae span all 50 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia. The lowest are in Nevada, Delaware, New Hampshire. On average, about 1,613 Maes were registered per state.
Mae + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Mae as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Mae
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Mae: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mae?
We estimate approximately 23,464 people named Mae are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 14,608 Americans share this first name.
Is Mae a common name?
Mae is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 114,841 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Mae most popular?
Mae reached peak popularity in 1918, when 2,769 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Mae is approximately 50 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Mae a female name?
Mae is predominantly female. 99.5% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Mae Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Mae Smith, Mae Johnson, Mae Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me