Maya

Maya has only recently come into the greater consciousness of American baby namers, appearing in the top 1000 names only as recently as the 1970s. Early usage has been attributed to a fanciful extension of the name May but I think its just as plausible that immigrant populations from Germany, Poland and Scandinavia brought the name into regular, if infrequent, usage. Not coincidentally, as multiculturalism gained popularity, so did Maya.

Many cultures have some form of the name Maya.

• Maia is a figure in both Greek and Roman mythology (the month of May is named for the Roman Maia in particular).
  
• Queen Maya was the mother of Buddha.
  
• It is sometimes cited as a Hebrew name relating to the word, mayim, meaning 'water', however, this particular usage appears to be a modern one.
  
• The name Maya occurs in Japan but does not appear to be a traditional Japanese name. Usage may be influenced by Mount Maya, a Japanese mountain named for the mother of Buddha.
  
• Maija is a Finnish pet name for girls named Maria. Maja is similarly employed in places as varied as Germany, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Russia.
  
• Maya is a short form for Amalia in Spanish while Amaia/Amaya are of Basque origin.
• Maya is argued to have an Arabic origin as well but this is disputed. A similar Arabic name, May, and a Lebanese singer by the name of Maya, appear to be the source of confusion. Usage of the name Maya in Arabic speaking countries appears to be modern and not traditional.
  

Anecdotally, this name seems to appeal to multiracial and multicultural families in particular. Of the Mayas I know or have known or know of:

• One is half Asian Indian, half Caucasian-American.
• Two are half Lebanese, half Caucasian-American.
• One is half Japanese, half Vietnamese.
• One is Arabic-American.
• One is half African-American, half Jewish.
  

Rising from relative obscurity before the 1970s, Maya has become quite popular coming in at number 62 for the year 2007 (actually a slight drop from 2006 probably reflecting a leveling more than an actual drop). This is the sweet spot for a popular name. Popular enough to be familiar and easily recognizable but not so popular as to be annoying.

I am currently working on a re-organization of the 2007 popularity list that will combine name spellings and groupings (ie Sophie/Sophia/Sofie/Sofia will be considered one name). I'm interested to see what happens to Maya on the new list.