Fun Facts About the Name Mak
- 186 babies named Mak: U.S. records list 186 babies given the name Mak from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Mak Mean?
Mak belongs to more than one unrelated naming tradition, so it has no single meaning. Its most widespread use is as a Chinese surname: it is the Cantonese romanization of the character 麥 (Mandarin Mài), which is the ordinary Chinese word for "wheat." Cantonese speakers, including families in Hong Kong and Guangdong and their descendants overseas, write the surname as Mak; the same character appears as Mai in Mandarin and as Beh in Hokkien.
Separately, mak means "poppy" in several Slavic languages, among them Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, and Polish, and Hungarian has the related mák. In those regions the word is used in surnames and as a nickname or short given name. This is an independent origin; it has no connection to the Chinese surname, which simply happens to be spelled the same way in Latin letters.
In English-speaking countries, Mak is most often a short form of longer names such as Mackenzie or Makayla, or a simplified spelling of a surname of Chinese or other origin. Older Scots records sometimes wrote the Gaelic patronymic element mac ("son of") as mak-, so Mak- forms in surnames generally belong to Mac- or Mc- names rather than to a separate word of their own.
Mak Name History & Origins
The Chinese surname 麥 has traditional origin accounts set in the Spring and Autumn period. One traces it to Maiqiu, a place in the state of Qi whose name means "wheat hill" and was adopted as a family name; another connects the family to descendants of Shao Kang of the Xia dynasty. These belong to genealogical tradition rather than firm record. What is clear is that the surname took hold in northern China and later became common in Guangdong, where it is pronounced and romanized Mak, and from there it spread with Cantonese communities to Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe.
In South Slavic and Hungarian use, Mak goes back to the everyday word for the poppy, a plant that appears often in the region's folk songs and sayings. It serves mainly as a surname and as a familiar short name; the Bosnian poet Mehmedalija Dizdar (1917 - 1971) was known as Mak Dizdar.
English use is mixed. Mak is the name of the sheep-stealing character in the 15th-century Second Shepherds' Play, one of the Wakefield mystery plays, but that is a fictional use and says nothing about the name's origin. In Scotland, older spellings such as Mak- for the Gaelic mac ("son of") survive in surnames, and in present-day English the given name is usually a short form of a longer name beginning with Mak-.
How Popular is the Name Mak?
Mak has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2022. Its best rank was #4,270 in 1956.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #7,050 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2024 | #8,074 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2023 | #5,382 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 2022 | #5,343 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2021 | #8,584 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2020 | #6,169 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2019 | #10,414 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #7,429 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2017 | #7,925 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2016 | #11,620 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #11,581 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #7,357 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2013 | #8,524 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2012 | #9,389 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2010 | #11,666 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2009 | #11,913 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2008 | #13,826 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2007 | #13,640 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2005 | #12,622 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1957 | #4,335 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1956 | #4,270 | 5 | 0.0002% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Mak Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have psychic power. You can carry on for others with joy. You have a receptive nature and may bear burdens for others. You are pragmatic, thorough, strong-willed, practical and stubborn at times. You are hard working, often martyr to duty. You like home and security above all. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Mak's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Mak's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.