What do people think of Maia

[lightgreenglass]

And how popular is it?

[Brassrubbing]

It's pretty. Might possibly be people who dither about whether it's pronounced 'My-a' or 'May-a'? I can think of a few Maias locally, all Asian girls under the age of five or so - possibly spelled differently, but pronounced 'My-a'.

[squoosh]

It's okay but gets a bit lost amongst the many Mias/Mayas/Myas

[Itsfab]

Don't like it. Doesn't work phonetically for me.

Mia is the proper version for me. Know a Maya. Horrible mother, obnoxious child.

[MERLYPUSSEDOFF]

I wanted it 6 yrs ago. Both boys.
Maia is the Asian way of spelling it acc to MIL. Something to do with Bhuddas mum? Pronounced My-ah. Lovely.
I dont think anyone would pronounce it Mee-ah, perhaps I'm wrong.

[BiancaDelRio]

I think it's a bit passé and also very forgettable. It doesn't make any impact at all.

[looki]

I think its a tad boring and will constantly be mispronounced Mya, Mia etc.

Maria is a similar name but without any of the faddiness?

[SanityClause]

Reminds me of a dinosaur.

[MiddletonPink]

Prefer Gaia.

[bigbluestars]

I is a very fashionable name around here- far too popular for my liking.

[Pandora37]

I like it, it's pretty. I know a Maia and a Mya, I think Maia is the least common spelling and Maya is the most common. I also know a Maia who pronounces it may-a though so could be a tad confusing. I think it's fairly popular but not anywhere near the top 10.

[Letthemtalk]

I like it, though I'm biased as I have a maia

[Iloveweetos]

I like it! Dd's best friend at school is called maiya. How are you going to pronounce it?

[Umlauf]

It's also Basque. I know lots of Maias, and Amaias. Pronounced the my a way. Other Basque names in a similar vein are Maitane (my Tahn eh), Maialen (mya len), Laia (not so nice) Maider, Aida... The 'eye' sound is very popular. I like it.

[lightgreenglass]

I would pronounce it My-a. I'm indian if that makes a difference.

I told my mom before she died that if I had a girl I would call her Maya. But unsure of it now cos of it's popularity so thought Maia is close but not as popular. We have an unusual second name - think Scottish - so she would be the only one in the world. I've googled

Close family friends have a gorgeous little Maya so don't want to copy them. Although one of their daughters almost had my name - they asked though. Do I need to ask them in return for Maia?

[Iloveweetos]

I'm indian too and only ever met one mya/maiya/maia write all ways to spell it with surname and just see what looks nicer? That's what helped pick dd2 name

[EskiDecaff]

I do like it, it's pretty

[MrsPatMustard]

a bit boring - there's tons of little girls called Mia/Maya etc at the moment...

[spamanderson]

I think it's pretty. I have a daughter with 'aya' at the end and it often gets pronounced 'I-ya' rather than 'ay-ya' (even when I tell people and they then repeat it back wrong!) as it should be which gets annoying. If it being mispronounced doesn't worry you, go for it :)

[florascotia]

OP, you say you have a Scottish-type surname. If it helps, in Scotland last year (2013) there were:

22 babies named Maia
9 named Maiya
98 named Maya
2 named Mayah
and 1 each of Maja, Mayar, Mayaar and Mayaa

source: www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/popular-forenames/2013/babiesnames-2013-t4.pdf

[lightgreenglass]

Thanks for that.

We're in London and had a look at the ONS for Maia or variants of it and it came in at 51 put of 100.

My son's name doesn't feature in the top 100. Decided not to let that bog me down. We're going to go with it for the moment.

[WhereHas1999DissappearedToo]

Maia is a lovely name, it's the Maori spelling of Maya and means palm tree. I know a lovely 14 year old called Maia.

[Trillian79]

I love it - it's my daughter's name. There is a star named Maia (after the Greek goddess) for those who think it's passé. In addition, it's an internationally recognised name and we have had many compliments on it. And, dinosaur? Wtf?

[Sandberry]

It is super popular, I work in a London hospital, there was a day I went round the postnatal ward and there were 8 Maia's though most spelled Maya but also a Maja and 2 Maia's and there was also a Mia.

It is a name that works in lots of cultures, is relatively on trend and is therefore very popular in London. It is on the way up too, if it wasn't for variant spellings it would be much higher in the popularity charts.

[fionadal]

I like the sound of the name very much. I think it's pretty popular nationally though I have only met one! As someone said above, it does tend to get a bit mixed up with the Amayas/Mias/Mayas!