May

Diminutive of Margaret and Mary; month name

"drop of the sea; bitter; beloved; love"

May Origin and Meaning

The name May is a girl's name of English origin.

May is a sweet old-fashioned name that hasn't been on the national charts in several decades, but is definitely sounding fresh and springlike. Parents are beginning to see it once more as one of the prettiest middle name options. May was as high on the list as Number 57 in the 1880s; it's now 228 on Nameberry.

May started as one of the innumerable pet forms of Mary and Margaret, as well as a springtime month name along with April and June. She's represented in literature by May Bartram in Henry James's The Beast in the Jungle and May Welland in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence.

Actresses Emily Morton and Madeline Stowe named their daughters May, and Eric Clapton and Jodie Sweetin used it in middle place for theirs.

May Rank in US Top 1000

# 963 in the US

May Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 344 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name May

• 344 Nameberry 2025
• 426 Unique 2023
• 642 England 2023
• 92 Israel 2020

20 Names Similar to May

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like May.

• Joy
• Holly
• Wendy
• Penny
• Bonnie
• Rosie
• Sally
• Heather
• Kitty
• Ginny
• Hope
• Maggie
• Minnie
• Robin
• Dolly
• Nancy
• Annie
• Heidi
• Rosa
• Molly

Famous People Named May

• Mary Jeanette "May" Robson Australian,American actress
• Eleanore Marie "May" Sarton American poet, novelist, and memoirist
• May Helen Emma Abel Smith Princess of Teck, great,granddaughter of Queen Victoria
• May nickname of Mary of Teck, Queen consort of George V of the U.K.
• May Whitty (born Mary Louise Webster) English actress
• May O'Donnell American dancer/choreographer
• May Fung Yee Pang American former girlfriend of musician John Lennon
• May J. (born May Hashimoto) Japanese pop singer
• May Allison American actress
• May Britt Swedish actress
• May Mcavoy American silent film actress
• Louisa May Alcott American novelist
• (Abigail) May Alcott Nieriker American artist and sister of Louisa May Alcott
• Maryum "May May" Ali daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali
• May Rose Nivola daughter of English actress Emily Mortimer
• (Cecilia) May Gibbs Australian children's author
• May Theodora Benben daughter of actors Madeleine Stowe and Brian Benben
• Scarlett May Stuber (b. 2015) daughter of model Molly Sims
• May Andersen (b. 1982) Danish model appeared in Victoria's Secret & Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
• May Martin Famous British Seamstress

The name May in Pop Culture

• May Parker aka Aunt May character in Marvel's Spider,Man series
• May "Mayday" Parker aka Spider Girl, daughter of Spider,Man
• May Welland character from "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton
• May a main character in Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald
• May the main female character in the Pokemon Advanced anime series saga
• May Singer sister of America Singer, The Selection Trilogy by Kiera Cass
• May Clutterbucket a character on TV's "Girl Meets World".
• May Kanker character on animated series "Ed, Edd n Eddy"
• Anna May Bates character from "Downton Abbey"
• Maggie May song by Rod Stewart
• Melinda May character in Marvel Universe

International Variations of the name May

• Maj Scandinavian
• Mai French
• Maggia Italian