POLL: Maeve vs. Mae

In this Name vs Name, Maeve and Mae face off. With just two letters separating them, these stylish monikers are surprisingly different.

Name 1: Maeve

Origin: Gaelic

Meaning: “She who intoxicates”

Pronunciation: Māv

Nicknames: Mayvie, Mae

Current Rank: #334

Trending: Steady rising

Our Take: Though it’s still pretty firmly ranked in that “sweet spot,” Maeve feels like it’s everywhere these days. This is probably because of its quick climb up the charts. The name’s initial rise in US popularity may be credited to the 90s series The Adventures of Sinbad (which included a character named Maeve) and the movie Circle of Friends (which was based on the novel by Maeve Binchy). In more recent pop culture, fictional Maeves can be found in Netflix’s Sex Education, ABC’s Make It Or Break It, police drama Criminal Minds, Amazon’s superhero deconstruction The Boys, and HBO’s sci-fi series Westworld. The prevalence of the name on TV and the diversity of the characters it names speak to its widespread appeal.

Tip: While we’re all about the Irish baby names (Aoife and Saoirse, we’re looking at you!), we recommend the Maeve spelling for US babies. The modern Irish spelling of Medbh just won’t be intuitive in the US.

Name 2: Mae

Origin: English

Meaning: “Bitter” or “pearl”

Pronunciation: May

Nicknames: Maeby

Rank: #554

Trending: Steady rising

Our Take: A vintage name that has been in style for most of the last century, Mae has been experiencing a moderate upward rise over the last twenty years. It’s perhaps most associated, still, with the bawdy actress of the 1930s, Mae West. A variant of May, it may be too literal for a May-born baby, but it could make a sweet tribute to a significant May event. Mae also has a cross-cultural sound, with Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese variations including Mei and Mai.

Tip: While short and sweet names like this one do make “easy” middle names, we think that Mae shines brightest in the first-name spot. As a middle name, Mae gives off a sweet Southern charm, but we love how fresh and deliberate it feels as a first name (like a first-named Rose, or Grace). 

The Verdict

While these names look and sound extremely similar and their recent popularity seems to be on the same upward path, their pasts are what set them apart: 

The long-term charting of Maeve shows that it was virtually unused (outside the top 1000) until 1997! As a baby name in the US, then, it’s only really been around for about 20 years. And it is currently the most popular it’s ever been. At the same time that Maeve was coming onto the scene in the 90s, Mae was taking its break from the popularity charts–a 40-year break that lasted from 1970 to 2010. Mae was at its most popular in 1902, when it ranked at #53. It is part of the 100-year vintage revival, in which names popular in the early 1900s are now coming back into contemporary usage.

Both names are on-trend choices with lots of charm packed into a single syllable. But if we had to choose…

Star’s pick: Mae (I’m a sucker for vintage.)

Lynda’s pick: Maeve (I love Irish names.)

Readers, cast your vote below! And tell us why in the comments!