Mayleen
A diminutive form of the name Madeleine, of French origin meaning "high tower" or "lofty".
Name Census estimates that about 868 living Americans carry the first name Mayleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mayleen today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mayleen births was 2012 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mayleen. 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
868
~ 1 in 394,878 Americans
Peak year
2012
65 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,107
Tracked since 1978
Census
Mayleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 850 people with the first name Mayleen, which placed it at #13,996 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
#13,996
National first-name rank
People counted
850
850 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
67.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mayleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayleen is Hispanic at 67.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.1%) and White (8.5%). 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 Mayleen 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 Mayleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino67.8% · 576
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.1% · 128
- White8.5% · 72
- Black or African American5.9% · 50
- Two or more races2.1% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6
Popularity
Mayleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mayleen 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 443 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mayleen 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 Mayleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mayleens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Mayleen, while Florida, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mayleen
The name Mayleen is a relatively modern combination of the names May and Leen. It does not have a direct linguistic origin or clear cultural roots. However, its components can be traced back to various sources.
The first part, May, is derived from the Latin name Maia, which was the name of the Roman goddess of spring and growth. The name Maia itself is believed to come from the Latin word "maiores," meaning "ancestors" or "elders." In ancient Roman culture, the month of May was named after this goddess, signifying the arrival of spring and the renewal of life.
Leen, the second part of the name, is a shorter form of the name Lena, which has its origins in the Greek name Helena. Helena was a popular name in ancient Greek mythology, most famously associated with Helen of Troy, whose abduction sparked the Trojan War. The name Helena is derived from the Greek word "helene," meaning "bright" or "shining."
While the name Mayleen itself does not have any specific historical references or appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its components have been used in various forms throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name May can be found in the 13th century, when it was used as a diminutive form of the name Mary. A notable figure with the name May was May Morris (1862-1938), an English embroiderer and designer, and the daughter of the famous artist and writer William Morris.
As for the name Lena, it has been used in various cultures and time periods. One famous Lena was Lena Horne (1917-2010), an American singer, actress, and civil rights activist, known for her successful career in Hollywood and her advocacy for racial equality.
Other notable individuals with the name May or Leen include:
1. May Watts (1863-1940), a British suffragist and women's rights activist.
2. Lena Ashwell (1869-1957), an English actress and theater manager.
3. May Sinclair (1863-1946), a British novelist and literary critic.
4. Lena Horne (1917-2010), the American singer and actress mentioned earlier.
5. Lena Zavaroni (1963-1999), a Scottish singer and actress who achieved fame as a child star.
While the name Mayleen may not have a long and illustrious history, its components have been present in various cultures and have been borne by notable individuals throughout history, reflecting the diverse and rich tapestry of human names and their origins.
People
Mayleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mayleen 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
Mayleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mayleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 868 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mayleen 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 394,878 US residents.
Is Mayleen a common name?
We classify Mayleen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 880 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mayleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Mayleen was 2012, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mayleen is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mayleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 850 people with the name Mayleen, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,996 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 Mayleen 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 Mayleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mayleen appears almost entirely female. Of the 847 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Mayleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mayleen is Hispanic at 67.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.1%) and White (8.5%). 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 Mayleen most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mayleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.8% (576 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 Mayleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mayleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mayleen 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 Mayleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mayleen 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 Mayleen 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 Americans are named Mayleen?
Want to know how many Americans are named Mayleen? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.