Maite
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "lovable".
Name Census estimates that about 4,210 living Americans carry the first name Maite. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maite today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maite births was 2011 (244 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maite. 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 Maite with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Maite is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.2K
~ 1 in 81,414 Americans
Peak year
2011
244 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,044
Tracked since 1968
Census
Maite in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,164 people with the first name Maite, which placed it at #4,470 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
#4,470
National first-name rank
People counted
4.2K
4,164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
91.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maite
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maite is Hispanic at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (5.9%) and Black (1.0%). 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 Maite 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 Maite at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.7% · 3,820
- White5.9% · 246
- Black or African American1.0% · 41
- Two or more races0.6% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Popularity
Maite: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maite from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,811 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Maite remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maite 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 Maite during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maites live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Maite, while Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 119 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maite
The name Maite originates from the Basque region of Spain and France, believed to have derived from the Latin name Amata, meaning "beloved". It has been used in the Basque region since at least the Middle Ages.
Maite is a variation of the Spanish name Amada, which shares the same Latin root. Some historians suggest the name may have connections to the ancient Iberian goddess Amalthea, who was associated with nurturing and abundance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maite appears in the 13th-century Basque literary work "The Book of Lineages". In this text, Maite is mentioned as the name of a noblewoman from the region.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Maite. Maite Zaldua (1922-2008) was a prominent Basque writer and poet who published numerous works celebrating Basque culture and language. Maite Idirin (born 1969) is a renowned French-Basque singer and songwriter known for her contributions to contemporary Basque music.
In the realm of politics, Maite Pagazaurtundua (born 1965) is a Spanish politician who has served as a member of the Basque Parliament and as the Minister of Culture for the Basque Autonomous Community. Maite Aranzasti (born 1978) is a Spanish journalist and author who has written extensively on social and political issues.
Another notable figure is Maite Zúñiga (born 1964), a Mexican actress and television presenter who has appeared in various telenovelas and films throughout her career.
While the name Maite has maintained its popularity within the Basque region, it has also gained recognition in other parts of the world, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries, due to its Spanish roots and the influence of Basque culture.
People
Maite + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maite 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
Maite: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maite?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,210 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maite 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 81,414 US residents.
Is Maite a common name?
We classify Maite as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,272 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maite most popular?
The single biggest year for Maite was 2011, when 244 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maite 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 Maite in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,164 people with the name Maite, or 1.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,470 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 Maite 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 Maite?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maite appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,159 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Maite?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maite is Hispanic at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (5.9%) and Black (1.0%). 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 Maite most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Maite in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (3,820 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 Maite in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maite a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maite 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 Maite still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maite 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 Maite 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 have Maite as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.