Maya
From the Greek maia, "good mother". Uncommon enough that meeting one sticks with you, though it's climbing: given a little more often each year lately, and only ever to girls.
Maya Pronunciation
Maya is pronounced mah-IH-ah (/maˈɨa/).
What Maya means
Where Maya comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Maya comes into Polish through Latin, and Latin took it from Greek. The Greek word maia meant a nurse or a good mother, and that is the meaning kept beside the name now: dobra matka. The word also named Maia, one of the Pleiades and, in the old stories, the mother of Hermes.
Rome held onto her. The Roman goddess Maia gave her name to the month of May, and she received offerings on its first day. A small word for a nurturing woman ended up printed on a calendar.
In Poland the name keeps close company. On a school register you are far likelier to find Maja, spelled the Polish way, while the older variant Maiia shows up in official records. Three spellings, one root.
The root has not moved far. Behind Maja, Maiia, and Maya sits the Greek maia, good mother, dobra matka.
How many people are named Maya
1 in 3191 women in Poland is named Maya. 7,066 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #426 among female names.
Maya's popularity over time
90 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #260 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where parents choose Maya
Maya is most popular in Lower Silesian, 54% above the national average (71 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Lubusz (+44%) and Holy Cross (+41%). It is least common in Greater Poland and Lublin, 38% and 30% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian
+54%1 in 2,213 babies
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Lubusz
+44%1 in 2,365 babies
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Holy Cross
+41%1 in 2,410 babies
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Greater Poland
−38%1 in 5,519 babies
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Lublin
−30%1 in 4,889 babies
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Silesian
−21%1 in 4,294 babies
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Lower Silesian+54% 71 born1 in 2,213 babies+54%
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Lubusz+44% 21 born1 in 2,365 babies+44%
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Holy Cross+41% 23 born1 in 2,410 babies+41%
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Opole+40% 19 born1 in 2,426 babies+40%
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Subcarpathian+39% 49 born1 in 2,461 babies+39%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+12% 36 born1 in 3,038 babies+12%
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Lesser Poland+7% 71 born1 in 3,196 babies+7%
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Pomeranian+4% 45 born1 in 3,274 babies+4%
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West Pomeranian−3% 24 born1 in 3,518 babies−3%
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Warmian-Masurian−5% 20 born1 in 3,590 babies−5%
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Podlaskie−7% 18 born1 in 3,655 babies−7%
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Masovian−11% 93 born1 in 3,809 babies−11%
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Łódź−17% 31 born1 in 4,088 babies−17%
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Silesian−21% 53 born1 in 4,294 babies−21%
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Lublin−30% 21 born1 in 4,889 babies−30%
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Greater Poland−38% 39 born1 in 5,519 babies−38%
Maya as a middle name
Maya is a first name for 7,066 women in Poland and a middle name for another 702, a 91/9 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 277th, between Petronela (721) and Isabella (697).
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#275 Filomena733
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#276 Petronela721
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#277 Maya702
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#278 Isabella697
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#279 Eulalia690