The baby name Maisie first caught on in the UK, before joining Sadie and Hattie on the US popularity charts.
Thanks to Laura and Audra, for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
MINI MARGARET
The enduring Margaret offers many a nickname: Maggie and Meg, Peggy and Daisy, Greta, Gretchen, and, of course, Maisie.
In Scottish and Irish, Margaret became Mairead, and Maisie evolved from there.
It’s also spelled Maisy and Maizie and other combinations, like Mayzee, are out there. Dr. Seuss spelled it Mayzie. Senator Mazie Hirono was elected in 2013 to represent Hawaii.
HENRY JAMES to LUCY COUSINS
Speaking of Seuss, fictional Maisies abound.
Henry James’ 1897 novel What Maisie Knew chronicles the early years of a young girl whose parents divorce and generally behave badly. It became a critically acclaimed movie in 2012.
Back in the 1940s, a movie series inspired a hit radio show. Actor Ann Sothern played brash Brooklyn showgirl Maisie Ravier. Sothern’s career would span six decades, ending with her first Oscar nomination at the age of 78. But Maisie remains her iconic role. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “Likewise, I’m sure,” then you’ve heard Maisie’s most famous line.
In children’s literature, there’s Dr. Seuss’s Daisy-Head Mayzie, about a schoolgirl sprouting a yellow flower from her head. The story is relatively obscure – it was published posthumously in 1995, meaning that generations haven’t grown up with Mayzie. But there’s also a bird named Mayzie in Seussical, and so a younger generation may see the name differently.
In the early 2000s, Lucy Cousins penned a series of books about Maisy Mouse. (The character is still going strong.) A television series followed around the same time, aired on Nick Jr. in the US.
Lucy Cousins, however, is English. And in the UK, the name is less of a surprise. It was already a Top 100 choice, with the -ie spelling, when Cousins’ mouse met the world. It seems possibly that her character helped boost the -y version, as that name caught on quickly in the early 2000s, though it remains less popular.
The UK gives us more fictional Maisies – there’s author Jacqueline Winspear’s early twentieth century detective, Maisie Dobbs, as well as a character on British soap opera Emmerdale, to name just two.
The Perishers, a long-running British comic strip also included a little Maisie, a strong-willed little girl sometimes compared to Lucy from the Peanuts in the US.
MAISIE WILLIAMS
Perhaps the most famous Maisie of our moment is Game of Thrones alum Maisie Williams. Famous for playing Arya Stark – and growing up on the show.
Williams was born Margaret, but got her nickname from The Perishers character.
BY THE NUMBERS
The rise of the baby name Maisie is almost certainly tied to Game of Thrones.
In 2011, the year we first met Arya Stark, just 138 girls were named Maisie in the US. By 2013, that number was 218. And in 2014? It reached 437, enough for the name to debut in the US Top 1000 at #653.
It hasn’t slowed down since, reaching #347 in 2019.
SADIE, MILLIE, and MAISIE
Of course, it’s not just about the young actor.
The baby name Maisie fits neatly with another trend – our love of sparky nickname names like Sadie and Hattie. Plus the Mae sound, heard in names like Maeve, feels current current, too. Plus, surname Macy, floral name Daisy, and vintage charmer Mabel all feel like they point to a rise for Maisie, too.
It’s also possible some of the many Margarets born in recent years could answer to the baby name Maisie. But just as Molly now feels separate and distinct from Mary, it’s not obvious to most how Maisie evolved from Margaret.
What do you think of the baby name Maisie?
First published on December 23, 2009, this post was revised and re-posted on February 16, 2015 and again on February 17, 2021.
We are going to use Maisie as a nickname for Mary Elisabeth, coming in April!
That’s lovely!
My toddler is Margaret nn Maisy, and we love it. We get good feedback except some people think it’s “Macy” and really can’t seem to hear a difference. Also no on ever guesses the right spelling. We call her Maize or Maisy-may. My parents call her Daisy. Whenever I have to explain her name to someone, I say “it’s just like Daisy, but with an m.” We picked the y spelling instead of ie because it seemed slightly less cutesy. But we like having Margaret as her real name in case she ever wants more options or a more serious name.
Another prominent Maisy is the child actress on the show Nashville, who is also a musician with her sister Lennon.
I would love to read your post on Maisie. Has it disappeared? 🙂
It’s on our short list for future daughter names to go with our little Hugo James. Hubby said he’d want to name her something more proper and nickname her Maisie, but I think it can stand on its own. I thought with a classic middle name it would work. Maisie Charlotte or Maisie Louisa.
We also thought of using a name like Mabel and then giving a middle name with a Z or S sound. How cool would Mabel Zelda or Mable Suzanne be nn Maisie?
Hi Audra – The post on Maisie is fixed! Thanks for finding it – many of my older posts were broken when I moved hosts a few years back. I can still get them from the archive, but it’s tough to figure out which ones aren’t working properly! That said, Maisie could use an update, so I’ll plan to refresh this post next month, on 2/16. And oh, I love the sound of Mabel Zelda or Mabel Suzanne – great ways to get to Maisie! I do think it stands on its own, but I tend to agree with your husband – can’t hurt to have a formal name to fall back on. Best, Abby
Mabel… now there’s another name I could get behind. I think I might just be digging the whole “May-” family. And Mabel Jane is glorious!
Because we will soon have a little Mabel called Maisie in our family, I recently did a search to see if that was a combination used back in the days when Mabel was so popular in the U.S. (Mabel was among the top 25 names for baby girls born between 1880 (and before) and 1903, peaking at #15 in 1891.) I haven’t come across that pairing in the U.S., but have found four in England where Maisie has been more widely used. My favorite of these is Mabel Jane (called Maisie) Comley who was born in 1905: https://freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ianherbie/wp01_112.htm. I like Maisie best as a nn for the more formal Margaret or Mabel.
I am in love with this name since discovering it here. I also absolutely love the pairing Maisie May. I also quite like the name June. Maisy Mae June sounds like a burst of fresh spring/early summer. I don’t like the names Margaret or Marjorie (I know too many old ladies with those names) but I like most of the diminutives. Daisy is another name crush 🙂
I also noticed, since I am revisiting this post after a few weeks, that only the first three paragraphs are visible. Has the rest been archived?
Hyphenated names, especially for girls, are rather trendy in England right now. On the ranked names of baby girls born in 2011 are
Maisie-Mae: 9 baby girls given the name and
Maisie-May: 3 baby girls.
Maisie May is very cute (and Edwardian with the alliteration), but maybe a little two cute for a grownup.
I know expectant parents who plan to name their daughter Mabel with the nickname Maisie. That nn was suggested by a family member who came across a Mabel/Maisie connection with VP Biden’s granddaughter Roberta Mabel, always called “Maisy”. Mom has loved the name Mabel for years; her husband loves the nn Maisie. (He also loves the name Sadie, but that wasn’t an option for them.)
Another Mazie in the news is the new US Senator from Hawaii, Mazie Hirono. She was born in Japan to a Japanese-American mother and moved to Hawaii at age 8. Her full name is Mazie Keiko Hirono (in Japanese Meiji Keiko).
Ooh … thanks, Patricia – great info!
Just came across an obit for a Mabel called Maisie who was born around 1906:
Fulton. Mabel “maisie” (liggett) Fulton
Mabel “Maisie” (Liggett) Fulton, 89, of West Hartford, widow of James Fulton, died Saturday (May 20, 1995) at home. She was born in Portadown, Northern Ireland…
My name is Maisie and nobody has every called me ‘crazy maisie’ or anything such. I like this name. I get called Maymay may mais etc…… I think its cute for a kid and as a adult and if you really mind it a lot you could go with May as an adult.
My name is Spelled MAZY its my full name my middle name is MAE…MAZY MAE everyone loves it i have never been teased. everyone i meet loves my name they think its so unique and beautiful!!
I think it’s the most beautiful girl’s name out there. My old married last name had a Z in it so I planned that if I ever had a girl she would be Mayzee Eliza Azevedo……..That marriage didn’t work out so Now I have a little Maisy. I like that it looks like Daisy.
We named our daughter Maiza Madeline and her nickname is Maizie may. I adore the name and have never met another Maiza. She is proud of her name and loves that it is unique!
Maisie Mae is what my fiancé and I are planning on using for a girls name in the future. Glad someone else has a name similar and loves it!
Funny, because I am called maisie, and I cannot STAND the name margaret! And as far as I know, my parents had no intention in calling me that. The name maisie isnt a nickname – its a full name as well.
Nicknames for maisie:
Mais
Maz
May (i never thought about this one!)
Maisie moo (most used for me. Its also a bag brand. Look it up on google! I love it)
If you are considering the name maisie, go for it, as it is perfect for babies, girls and women and its just a lovely name, i just think its great, and its really worked out for me, as its such a pretty name. I never get teased about my name really, i just get called “crazy maisie” and “maisie moo” and thats it really!
Yay xx
I call my Maisy my little Maiser-doodle. Maizers. and her uncle always says “FIRE THE MAZER-BEAM!” (from austin power’s). My 6 year old (the other brother) calls her Maizers and Mays”