NameRealm
Mei

Mei: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“plum blossom; beautiful”
Origin
Chinese
Say it
MAY · 1 syllable
Used for
Girls

In Chinese, Mei is commonly written with characters such as 美 'beautiful' or 梅 'plum'. It also occurs in Japanese names, but the meaning depends on the characters used.

Japanese namesNames meaning beautyNames meaning flowerNames meaning natureShort namesInternational namesNature names

How popular is Mei?

202430.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Mei in 2024101

2024 rank#1,954 girls

Peak year2024

Total US babies since 18801,741

Mei is rising: use over the last five years is 1.9× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Mei

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Lianlotus or graceful willow; also linked forms · Chinese
  • Jiagood; auspicious; beautiful · Chinese

Mei questions

What does the name Mei mean?

Mei means "plum blossom; beautiful". It comes from Chinese. In Chinese, Mei is commonly written with characters such as 美 'beautiful' or 梅 'plum'. It also occurs in Japanese names, but the meaning depends on the characters used.

Is Mei a boy or girl name?

Mei is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Mei?

101 US babies were named Mei in 2024. Its peak year was 2024.

How do you pronounce Mei?

Mei is usually pronounced MAY.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.