May.
The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar, following April and preceding June.
Meaning & usage
The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar, following April and preceding June.
A female given name, usually pet name for Mary and Margaret, reinforced by the month and plant meaning.
A surname from Middle English.
A surname from Middle English. Theresa May, former British prime minister.
A number of places in the United States: A former settlement in Amador County, California.
A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Lemhi County, Idaho.
A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in McDonald County, Missouri.
A number of places in the United States: A small town in Harper County, Oklahoma.
A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Brown County, Texas.
A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
A number of places in the United States: A number of townships in the United States, listed under May Township.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂sder.? Latin Maia Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Italic *-os Archaic Latin -os Latin -us Latin Maiusder. Old French maibor. Middle English May English May From Middle English May, Mai, from Old French mai, from Latin Maius (“Maia's month”), from Maia, a Roman earth goddess.
A surname.
Where this word comes from
The surname is converged from several origins: * As an English surname, from Middle English May, a pet form of Matthew (see Mayhew). * As an English, Dutch, German, Polish, and Jewish surname, from the name of the month. * Also as an English surname, occasionally a pet form of Mary or Margaret. * Also as an English surname, from the obsolete noun may (“kinsman”), from Old English maga (“son, relative”). * Also as an English surname, from obsolete Middle English mei (“physician”), a borrowing from Old English mege, from Latin medicus. See Mee. * As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Miadhaigh (“descendant of Miadhach”), a name derived from miadh (“honor”). * As a French surname, shortened from Lemay, Dumay. * Also as a French surname, from a derivative of Latin Marius, similar to Mario. * As a Jewish surname, from the town Mayen in Germany. * As a Chinese surname, from 麥 /麦 (see Mai) and 梅 (méi)) (see Mei). * As an Amerindian (Mexico) surname of Mayan origin, from maay (“cloven hoof”), originally "young deer."
Try it on your idea.
May has 3 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.