# May (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/may/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Middle English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | French |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 103,306 |
| US rank (2010) | 304 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 2,989 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.6% (101,726 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /meɪ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Ma, Mae |

## Etymology

From Middle English May, Mai, from Old French mai, from Latin Maius (“Maia's month”), from Maia, a Roman earth goddess.

## Who carries it

Share of people named May in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 84% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.2% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named May in the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, Australia, East Germany and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named May

- Ralphie May, American stand-up comedian
- Rollo May, American psychologist (1909–1994)
- Elaine May, American screenwriter, film director, actress, and comedian (b. 1932)
- Isabel May, American actress (born 2000)
- Jodhi May, British actress
- Fiona May, British-born Italian long jumper
- Misty May-Treanor, American beach volleyball player
- Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian scientist who has been Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government (1936-2020
- Mia May, Austrian actress (1884-1980)
- Eva May, Austrian actress (1902–1924)
- Torsten May, boxer
- Peter May, British and French writer (1951–2026)

and 29 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Ma, Mai, Mao, Mau, Mah, Maw, Mayo, Maya, Mayhew, Maye, Mayhue, Moya.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.