The yellow apricot blossom of Tet, from the Vietnamese mai, the hoa mai flower that blooms at the Lunar New Year. A familiar Vietnamese feminine name, it ties the bearer to springtime renewal and good fortune, fresh and bright as the new year's first flowering.
Mai is a girl's name of Vietnamese origin, traditionally used in Buddhist families.
The name means "The yellow apricot blossom of Tet, from the Vietnamese mai, the hoa mai flower that blooms at the Lunar New Year. A familiar Vietnamese feminine name, it ties the bearer to springtime renewal and good fortune, fresh and bright as the new year's first flowering." and belongs to the Nature cluster — names drawn from the natural world — earth, water, sky.
Common among SoutheastAsian, Vietnamese families, Mai carries cultural weight that goes beyond its dictionary definition — it's a name with a story and a community.
Numerology of Mai
Numerology assigns each name a single-digit destiny number by summing its letter values. Different schools use different mappings — NameRoot computes both so you can see how Mai resonates in either tradition.
Pythagorean
5
freedom and adventurous change
Chaldean
6
nurturing and family devotion
How Mai sounds
NameRoot scores the phonetic fit of every name against the sound of your last name. The pronunciation of Mai breaks down into 2 phonemes: /M-AY/. In the app, you'll see how those sounds flow with your family name across rhythm, stress, and consonant clusters.
The six signals, applied to Mai
NameRoot scores every name across six independent dimensions. Here's how Mai maps to each — install the app to see the full compatibility score for your specific family.
01 — Birth Star
Nakshatra match
Enter your baby's birth date in the app and we'll compute the nakshatra compatibility score.
02 — Numerology
Destiny alignment
Pythagorean and Chaldean life-path calculations (destiny 5) matched against your family's own numerology profile.
03 — Phonetics
Last-name fit
Rhythm, stress, and consonant clusters measured with IPA to see how Mai flows with your family name.
04 — Meaning
Nature
Mai belongs to the Nature cluster — names drawn from the natural world — earth, water, sky.
05 — Cultural & Tradition
Buddhist
As a Buddhist name, Mai carries religious and cultural weight scored against your family's heritage — plus grandparent-name matches, saint's-day alignment, and generational naming patterns scored against your family tree.
06 — Uniqueness
Popularity balance
How common Mai is today versus historically — finding the sweet spot between familiar and forgotten.
Names similar to Mai
If Mai resonates with you, these names live in the same world — drawn from the same tradition, sharing the same meaning, or echoing a similar sound.
From the same tradition
Other Buddhist girl names, common in SoutheastAsian families
Mai means "The yellow apricot blossom of Tet, from the Vietnamese mai, the hoa mai flower that blooms at the Lunar New Year. A familiar Vietnamese feminine name, it ties the bearer to springtime renewal and good fortune, fresh and bright as the new year's first flowering.." It is a girl name of Vietnamese origin, traditionally used in Buddhist families.
Is Mai a boy or girl name?
Mai is most commonly used as a girl name.
What is the origin of the name Mai?
Mai is of Vietnamese origin, used in Buddhist tradition, commonly among SoutheastAsian, Vietnamese families.
What is the numerology of Mai?
Mai has a Pythagorean destiny number of 5 — freedom and adventurous change.
See how Mai scores for your family
NameRoot is the only baby-name app that scores every name across 6 signals against your specific family context. Download free — Mai is waiting.