Maya

Maya meaning

Maya (माया) is a Hindu and international girl's name of Sanskrit origin. By its first sound, मा, it is a Simha rashi name (Magha nakshatra) in the North Indian table.

Supernatural power or art; illusion; illusion personified

Also used to mean: magic

Maya (माया) is Sanskrit māyā, a word whose meaning has shifted over time. In its oldest uses Monier-Williams gives art, wisdom and extraordinary or supernatural power; later it comes to mean illusion and unreality. That later sense is central to Advaita Vedānta, which, as Britannica explains, treats the changing, plural world as māyā set against the one reality, brahman. Personified Māyā is sometimes identified with Durgā. Name lists today usually give "illusion" or "magic". The name is also rooted in Buddhism: Queen Māyā, or Mahāmāyā, was the mother of Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha, who by tradition was born in the Lumbini grove. Maya is used well beyond India too.

Source: Monier-Williams, Sanskrit–English Dictionary (1899), p. 811 · entry māyā · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Monier-Williams, māyā, p. 811 · Britannica, Advaita · Britannica, Maha Maya

Famous namesakes

• Queen Maya (Mahamaya), mother of the Buddha

Popularity abroad

• #62 United States, girls 2025 (down 11 from 51 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #28 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Fits your syllable

First sound मा

Magha nakshatra, pada 1 · Simha rashi

North Indian table. Tables vary by region and family tradition, so confirm with your priest.

Spellings

Maya · Maaya

Related names

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