May
May is a girl name of English origin, meaning The hawthorn blossom; the fifth month.
What May means
The hawthorn blossom; the fifth month.
May is short — 3 letters, and ends on a consonant, which gives it a firmer stop.
Where May comes from
English names come from a long layering of Anglo-Saxon, Norman French, and biblical sources. Many began as surnames, place names, or occupations before they were ever used as first names.
May is recorded as English in origin. Browse other English names.
How popular is May?
May sits outside the top 100 girl names we currently track. For many parents that is the appeal: a name with genuine history behind it that has not been picked up by everyone at once.
The character of May
We group May under flowers and growing things and the natural world — an unusual pairing, and often the reason a name feels the way it does. Each theme opens a full list of names sharing it.
Names like May
These share May's themes, origin, or both — closest first.
- Daisy — The day's-eye flower.
- Lily — The lily flower — purity and beauty.
- Marigold — The golden marigold flower.
- Meadow — A field of wildflowers.
- Bryony — To sprout; a climbing vine.
- Hadley — Field of heather.
- Heather — The flowering heath shrub.
- Petunia — The trumpet-shaped flower.
- Poppy — The bright red poppy flower.
- Primrose — First rose; first flower of spring.
- Wisteria — The cascading purple vine.
- Briar — A wild, thorny rose bush.
More English names
- Maxwell — From the great stream.
- Maybelle — Lovable and dear.
- Mason — Worker in stone.
- Meadow — A field of wildflowers.
- Marlowe — From the hill by the lake.
- Mercy — Compassion and forgiveness.
- Marigold — The golden marigold flower.
- Mortimer — Still water; dead sea.
- Maisie — Pearl; child of light.
- Moss — Of the woodland; saviour.