Maya is an alternate name of Hindu goddess Lakshmi.

Maya is a female name in various languages with various meanings. In Sanskrit, for instance, Māyā means "illusion or magic", and is also an alternate name of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.^[1] In the Tupi language, of southern Brazil, it means "mother", while Mayara means "grandmother".^[2] In the Māori language, the name means "courage" or "bravery",^[3] and is popular for Māori girls in New Zealand.^[4] The name may be a variant form of the Greek theonym Maia (Μαῖα in Ancient Greek), the eldest of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes in Greek and Roman mythology.

Variously spelled Maia or Maja it can also be used as a short form of Maria or Mary in Christian culture such as Germany, the Scandinavian countries, and various East European and Balkan countries. Maya is also used as a short form for the name Amalia or the Basque name Amaia or Amaya (meaning "the end") in Spanish-speaking countries.

Maya can be a variant of Arabic name "Mayya" (مية) which is coming from May (مي) and it means either good servant,or pretty woman or even Water^[5], it was a popular name among the Medival arab women, one of the notable people who was named like this is "Mayya Bint Muqatil" the lover of the Arab poet "Dhul-Rumma"^[6]

In Hebrew language Maya can be derived from Hebrew word Mayim (מים) that means Water. It can also mean "from God".

Popularity

All variants of the name are well-used in the English-speaking world and other countries. Maya has ranked among the one thousand most popular names for girls in the United States since 1970 and among the top one hundred most popular names for American girls since 2002. Spelling variant Maia has ranked among the top one thousand names for American girls since 1996.^[7]

Notable people named Maya

• Maya (High Priest of Amun), a High Priest of Amun until at least year four of Akhenaten
• Maya (Treasurer) (13th century BC), the treasurer to Pharaohs Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemheb of Egypt
• Maya Ackerman, Russian-American computer scientist
• Maya Angelou (1928–2014), African-American author and poet
• Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (born 1975), better known as M.I.A., British singer/rapper
• Maya Bar-Hillel (born 1943), Israeli psychologist
• Maya Kalle-Bentzur (born 1958), Israeli Olympic runner and long jumper
• Maya Berović (born 1987), Bosnian pop star
• Maya Bouskilla (born 1977), Israeli singer
• Maya Days, American singer
• Maya Deren (1917–1961), American avant-garde filmmaker
• Maya Diab (born 1980), Lebanese singer
• Maya Dolas (1966-1991), Indian gangster
• Maya Erskine (born 1987), American actress
• Maya Gabeira (born 1987), Brazilian surfer
• Maya Hawke (born 1998), American actress
• Maya Higa (born 1998), a conservationist and Twitch streamer who streams under the name
• Maya Kazan (born 1986), American actress and director
• Maya Kulenovic (born 1975), Canadian artist
• Maya Lin (born 1959), American architect and sculptor, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• Maya Millete (born 1981), American woman who went missing in 2021
• Maya Mishalska (born 1974), Mexican actress
• Maya Moore (born 1989), American basketball player
• Maya Nasri (born 1976), Lebanese singer
• Maya Okamoto (born 1967), Japanese voice actress
• Maya Plisetskaya (1925–2015), Soviet born ballet dancer
• Maya Ritter (born 1993), Canadian actress
• Maya Rudolph (born 1972), American actress and Saturday Night Live cast member
• Maya Sondhi (born 1983), British Indian actress
• Maya Simantov (born 1982), Israeli singer
• Maya Soetoro-Ng (born 1970), Indonesian-American half-sister of U.S. President Barack Obama
• Maya Stojan (born 1984), Swiss actress
• Maya Tahan (born 1999), Israeli tennis player
• Maya Tskitishvili (born 1974), Georgian economist and politician
• Maya Vik (born 1980), Norwegian singer
• Maya Wiley (born 1964), American civil rights activist and lawyer, 2021 mayoral candidate for New York City
• Maya Yoshida (born 1988), Japanese professional footballer
• Maya (singer) (born 1979), South Korean K-Pop singer
• Maya (musician) (born 1979), vocalist of Japanese visual kei band LM.C

Notable animals named Maya

• Maya (wolf), a cloned arctic wolf

Fictional characters named Maya

• Maya (comics), an Indian DC Comics super-heroine
• Maya (Ninjago), a character in Ninjago
• Maya, the alter ego of the Marvel Comics superhero Paragon
• Maya, the original name given to Aelita in the French animated TV series Code Lyoko
• Maya (Azumanga Daioh), a minor character in the shōnen manga Azumanga Daioh
• Maya (Is the Order a Rabbit?), a character in the manga series Is the Order a Rabbit?
• Maya, one of the main characters in the Redakai: Conquer the Kairu franchise
• Maya, one of the main characters in Hiroki Endo's manga series Eden: It's an Endless World!
• Maya, fictional CIA intelligence analyst who tracked down Osama bin Laden from the film Zero Dark Thirty
• Maya Aida, a.k.a Mana Aida, protagonist of Glitter Force Doki Doki/DokiDoki! Pretty Cure
• Maya the Bee, the main character of the 1912 German children's book The Adventures of Maya the Bee and its various adaptions
• Fuuga no Maya, is a male who is half human and half angel in the animated series Saint Beast
• Maya Kennedy, minor character in Futari wa Pretty Cure (originally named Mayu Kashiwada)
• Maya Lopez, the Marvel Comics character known as Echo
• Maya Ibuki, a minor character in the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise
• Maya Santos, a character from the children's animated series Maya & Miguel
• Maya St. Germain, a secondary character in the Pretty Little Liars series of young-adult novels
• Maya Tendo, one of the main characters from the Shojo Kageki Revue Starlight franchise
• Maya Yamato, drummer of the band Pastel＊Palettes from the BanG Dream! franchise

See also

• Maia (name)
• Maja (given name)
• Mia (given name)
• Mya (given name)

Notes