Mailyn
A feminine name derived from the name Mary with German origins.
Name Census estimates that about 891 living Americans carry the first name Mailyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mailyn today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mailyn births was 2023 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mailyn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
891
~ 1 in 384,685 Americans
Peak year
2023
57 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,541
Tracked since 1978
Census
Mailyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,032 people with the first name Mailyn, which placed it at #12,168 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,168
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,032 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
71.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mailyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mailyn is Hispanic at 71.3%. The next largest groups are White (13.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mailyn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mailyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino71.3% · 736
- White13.9% · 143
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 82
- Two or more races4.2% · 43
- Black or African American2.6% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Mailyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mailyn from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 370 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mailyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mailyn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mailyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mailyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Mailyn, while Colorado, New York, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mailyn
The name Mailyn is believed to have its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, specifically Old English and Old Norse. It is thought to be a combination of two words: "mæg" meaning "powerful" or "strong," and "lind" meaning "serpent" or "dragon." Together, the name can be interpreted as "powerful serpent" or "mighty dragon."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mailyn can be found in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, where it is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. This suggests that the name was in use in England during the 11th century.
During the Middle Ages, the name Mailyn gained some popularity in parts of Europe, particularly in Germanic regions. It was sometimes spelled as "Maylind" or "Maylinde" in medieval records. In the 13th century, there was a notable figure named Mailyn von Rothenburg, a German noblewoman and landowner who played a role in the disputes between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy.
In the 15th century, a Dutch scholar and writer named Mailyn Gerritszoon van der Werff gained recognition for his work on religious texts and translations. He was born in 1412 and lived until 1480.
During the Renaissance period, the name Mailyn appeared in various literary works, including in the plays of William Shakespeare. In his play "Henry VI, Part 1," there is a character named Mailyn Jourdain, a French soldier.
In the 18th century, a notable figure named Mailyn Desmoulins was a French revolutionary and journalist who played a significant role in the events leading up to the French Revolution. She was born in 1760 and was executed by guillotine in 1794.
Another historical figure with the name Mailyn was Mailyn Cushing, an American author and activist who lived from 1876 to 1965. She was a pioneer in the field of children's literature and wrote several books promoting peace and social justice.
While the name Mailyn has ancient roots and has been used throughout history, it has become less common in modern times. However, its unique meaning and historical significance make it a distinctive and intriguing choice for a given name.
People
Mailyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mailyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mailyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mailyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 891 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mailyn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 384,685 US residents.
Is Mailyn a common name?
We classify Mailyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 902 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mailyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Mailyn was 2023, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mailyn is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mailyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,032 people with the name Mailyn, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,168 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mailyn in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mailyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mailyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,029 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mailyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mailyn is Hispanic at 71.3%. The next largest groups are White (13.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mailyn most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mailyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.3% (736 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mailyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mailyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mailyn in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mailyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mailyn in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mailyn can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Mailyn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.