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 HermesinGreek and Roman mythology.
Variously spelled MaiaorMaja it can also be used as a short form of MariaorMaryinChristian 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.[citation needed]
Another variant of Maya is the Arabic name Mayya (مية) which comes from May (مي) which means either good servant, pretty woman or water,[5] It was also a popular name among medieval Arab women, one of the more notable ones being Mayya Bint Muqatil the lover of the Arab poet Dhul-Rumma[6]
InHebrew Maya can be derived from the word Mayim (מים) which means Water.[citation needed]
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]
