Maisa
An Arabic feminine name meaning "walk with pride" or "feminine and kind".
Name Census estimates that about 243 living Americans carry the first name Maisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maisa today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maisa births was 2002 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maisa. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Maisa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
243
~ 1 in 1,410,512 Americans
Peak year
2002
15 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,725
Tracked since 1980
Census
Maisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 594 people with the first name Maisa, which placed it at #18,210 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
#18,210
National first-name rank
People counted
594
594 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maisa is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Black (11.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.8%). 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 Maisa 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 Maisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.8% · 391
- Black or African American11.1% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.8% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 50
- Two or more races4.4% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Maisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maisa from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 95 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Maisa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maisa 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 Maisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maisa
The name Maisa has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a feminine name derived from the Arabic root word "masa," which means "to walk" or "to travel." The name can be traced back to the 7th century, during the rise of Islam and the spread of Arabic culture across the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maisa can be found in medieval Arabic literature, particularly in poetry and love stories. It was often used as a metaphor for a beautiful and graceful woman, with the implication of being a traveler on the journey of life.
In Islamic history, there are several notable figures who bore the name Maisa. One of the most famous was Maisa al-Qurashiyya, a 7th-century Arab poet and scholar from Medina. She was renowned for her poetry and her expertise in genealogy and history.
Another historical figure with the name Maisa was Maisa bint Shaddad, a 7th-century Arab woman who was known for her bravery and military prowess. She fought alongside her tribe in battles against rival clans, earning respect and admiration for her courage.
In the 9th century, there was a famous Arab physician named Maisa al-Kindi, who was known for her contributions to the field of medicine. She wrote several treatises on various medical topics and was highly regarded for her knowledge and expertise.
During the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled from the 8th to the 13th century, there was a prominent Arab poet and writer named Maisa al-Baghdadi. She was celebrated for her literary works, which included poetry and prose.
In more recent history, one notable figure with the name Maisa was Maisa Tsidik, a 20th-century Egyptian actress and singer who was born in 1918 and died in 1999. She was a prominent figure in the Egyptian entertainment industry and was known for her roles in numerous films and stage productions.
People
Maisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maisa 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
Maisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maisa 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 1,410,512 US residents.
Is Maisa a common name?
We classify Maisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 247 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Maisa was 2002, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maisa is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 594 people with the name Maisa, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,210 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 Maisa 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 Maisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maisa leans strongly female. 582 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 11 male bearers (1.9%). 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 Maisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maisa is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Black (11.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.8%). 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 Maisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.8% (391 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 Maisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maisa 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 Maisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maisa 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 Maisa 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 common is the name Maisa?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Maisa at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.