How Many People Are Named May?
An estimated 9,801 people in the United States have the first name May. It is predominantly female (98.6%). The average bearer is 49 years old, and May peaked in popularity in 1919 with 991 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of May 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 May paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While May is overwhelmingly female, 699 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
9,801
About 1 in 34,971 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
98.6% confidence
Average Age
49
years old
Peak Year
1919
991 births
Total Registered
49,915
since 1880
Gender Distribution for May
May is predominantly female (98.6%), though 699 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
May as a male name
Ranked #8,623 in 1996
6 male births in 1996
Peak: 1925 (22 births)
May as a female name
Ranked #1,357 in 2024
168 female births in 2024
Peak: 1919 (981 births)
May: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for May span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 8,304 babies were registered. May has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
May by Decade
How has May 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 | 5,933 | 52 | 5,881 | |
| 1890s | 6,922 | 42 | 6,880 | |
| 1900s | 5,593 | 47 | 5,546 | |
| 1910s | 8,217 | 121 | 8,096 | |
| 1920s | 8,304 | 140 | 8,164 | |
| 1930s | 3,855 | 112 | 3,743 | |
| 1940s | 2,355 | 36 | 2,319 | |
| 1950s | 1,750 | 26 | 1,724 | |
| 1960s | 1,146 | 35 | 1,111 | |
| 1970s | 911 | 0 | 911 | |
| 1980s | 1,282 | 59 | 1,223 | |
| 1990s | 844 | 29 | 815 | |
| 2000s | 884 | 0 | 884 | |
| 2010s | 1,199 | 0 | 1,199 | |
| 2020s | 720 | 0 | 720 | |
May by State
Birth registrations for May span all 49 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, California, Texas. The lowest are in New Hampshire, New Mexico, Wyoming. On average, about 524 Mays were registered per state.
May + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with May as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to May
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
May: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named May?
We estimate approximately 9,801 people named May 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 34,971 Americans share this first name.
Is May a common name?
May is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 49,915 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was May most popular?
May reached peak popularity in 1919, when 991 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named May is approximately 49 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is May a female name?
May is predominantly female. 98.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many May Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: May Smith, May Johnson, May 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.
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