May/Mae/Mai

[Castlelough]

What do you think of May/Mae/Mai as a first name? I know it is overused as a middle name but I have only heard of one little Mae in recent years. Which spelling would you prefer?
And would you use May/Mae/Mai on the birth cert or would you have it as a nickname.and have something else on the birth cert, and if so - what?!
Thanks!

May as a first name would be fine. It's traditionally a nickname for Margaret or Mary I think, so you could put those on the birth certificate if you don't want to just use May.

I like May, it’s unusual as a first name. Mae is ok but I hate the Mai spelling. I want to pronounce it as My.

May. That spelling.

Love it as a first.

I love May.

May is best.

Mae is tolerable, but was popularised by Mae West, and I don't believe it existed as a legitimate spelling before that.

I would pronounce Mai as "My".

May

Mai is the Welsh spelling for May and it’s pronounced m-y-e-iih. I don’t like Mae because it’s the Welsh meaning for ‘the’, which is a bit random. Personally, I think May is the nicest because the pronunciation is the simplest.

It’s a perfectly nice name. Use the May spelling though.

Thanks for all the replies!
Is the Mae spelling so bad? Accordig to thinkbabynames website Mae is for old english origin and had it's height of popularity between 1890 ans 1900 which was long before Mae West came along!

Mae is not a nice spelling. Mai is even worse. May is ok, but a very boring blah name. No coincidence it's used as a filler middle name a lot.

I find it a bit wishy washy. It’s not offensive but nothing screams interesting

My great grandmother was called May and she was the nicest lady ever so I definitely like it

May as in Theresa May? Really?

I don't live in the UK pippilang so Theresa May doesn't bother me.

I really like it.

I'd go for Mae.

I love 'May' but dislike the other spellings.

Is your baby due in May OP?

Mai as a first name was my fave for years.
It has just been used to death as a second name.

Gutted about Harrison too - so many people have used it!

Both are now off the list

Love May as a first name. But would have to be a May baby.

It may be popular as a middle name, but that wouldn't stop me using it as a first name. It's lovely.

In Spain they spell it Mai and pn it My.

I don't like it. May is the only acceptable spelling. Mai is pronounced My.
Angharad07, I have no idea what part of Wales you are from but that is not how you pronounce Mai.

Not keen on Mai at all. I know a Lillie-Mai and I just think of Little My from the moomins when I see it written.

If I had a girl I really wanted to used May as a middle name, as my grandma was called Mavis. The popularity of using -mae -mai has really put me off using it as a middle name now though.

I know Mavis an old name but since granny chic is all the range at the mo, you could bring it back and use it as her name on BC?

Maeve (May-v) is also nice, Irish I believe?

Or Maisey/Maisie/Maisy?

I love May as a first name. It's only when it's used as a middle name or as part of a hyphenated first name that it gets overlooked. I think it's got a lot of dignity and class about it and it fits either a child or an adult. The name May has nothing to do with the month, so I wouldn't worry about that. Not the other two spellings, though.

I love the name May. It's pretty, elegant and yet simple and not overused. I like the May/Mae/Maye spellings, not keen on Mai.

May.