Mao: meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning & origin

Where it comes from

Mao comes from Mandarin.

How it developed

From Mandarin 毛 (Máo).

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1980. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Mao through the years

Babies since 1880: 295; 10 boys · 285 girls
Most popular year: 1991; 21 babies
2025: 0; Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20: —; Too few births to compare

Boys Girls

Mao in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1980–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2016. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,057 as a first name in 2020; 7,493 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Mao’s family of names

In Japanese usage, Mao is a Roman-alphabet rendering of まお. In Japanese usage, Mao is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 愛音. In Japanese usage, Mao is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 真生.

Walk Mao’s family in the name graph

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Mao has relatives in 9 languages. Lines run from its Chinese roots to each of them.

Chinesewhere Mao comes from · 1 name

毛

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 3

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Spellings & scripts 6

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 8

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

People named Mao

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Mao, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Chinese · Modern

Sibling ideas

Names that share Mao’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Mao

A sister for Mao

Your shortlist

Mao