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.

# 963 in the US

May Rank in US Top 1000

# 502 on Nameberry

May Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

May Popularity

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

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