How common is the surname Mays?

40,408 people in the United States had the surname Mays in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,641 Americans. It ranked 854th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Mays?

Jayma Mays, American actress, followed by Willie Mays.

Where is the surname Mays most common?

Wikidata records people named Mays in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Mays getting more or less common?

More common. 38,914 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 40,408 in 2010, up 3.8%.

The surname Mays

A surname, carried by 40,408 people in the United States.

Pronounced /meɪz/ 1 syllable Soundex M200

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Mays is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

* As an English surname, variant of Mayes. * As a German surname, variant of Mais. * As a Dutch surname, from a short form of Thomas.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 40,408 people named Mays in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 7,641 Americans. That is up 3.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 38,914.

#854

rank among US surnames

40,408

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3.8%

change since 2000 (was #809)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#845	Reilly	40,884	7,552
#846	Pennington	40,854	7,557
#847	Michael	40,736	7,579
#848	Conrad	40,707	7,585
#849	Giles	40,598	7,605
#850	Benjamin	40,590	7,606
#851	Crosby	40,563	7,612

Who is named Mays

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

55% of people named Mays identified as white (not Hispanic), 40% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.7% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 55%
Black (not Hispanic) 40%
Two or more races 2.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Mayss

9 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Jayma Mays
American actress, born 1979
Willie Mays
American baseball player (1931–2024)
Tristin Mays
American actress, born 1990
Lyle Mays
American jazz musician (1953–2020)
Daniel Mays
British actor, born 1978
Jefferson Mays
American actor, born 1965
Skylar Mays
American basketball player (born 1997)
Carl Mays
American baseball player, 1891–1971
James Henry Mays
American politician (1868-1926)

Notable Mayss come mostly from the United States (8) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Mays

Mays has the Soundex code M200, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M200.

Questions

Where does the surname Mays come from?: * As an English surname, variant of Mayes. * As a German surname, variant of Mais. * As a Dutch surname, from a short form of Thomas.
How common is the surname Mays?: 40,408 people in the United States had the surname Mays in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,641 Americans. It ranked 854th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Mays?: In the 2010 Census, 55% of people named Mays identified as white (not Hispanic), and 40% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Mays?: Jayma Mays, American actress, followed by Willie Mays.
Where is the surname Mays most common?: Wikidata records people named Mays in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Mays?: Mays is /meɪz/, one syllable.
Is the surname Mays getting more or less common?: More common. 38,914 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 40,408 in 2010, up 3.8%.