Ma

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Ma: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Ma: Recorded since 1962, it reached #252 in 1985, and it was last ranked in 2009.

2registrars recorded it
36times a registrar ranked it
48years from first to last
#252highest recorded position
11groupings it qualifies for

Region

Trend unknown

among girls in England and Wales · 2009

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2009	#5556

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

Trend unknownEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Norway in 35 of the 44 years from 1962 to 2005.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1962–2009 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1962
First recorded at #462 among girls in Norway in 1962 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Girls
Highest recorded1962–2005
Highest recorded position: #252 among girls in Norway, in 1985 (recorded 1962–2005).
Norway · Girls
Most recent2005
Most recently recorded at #609 among girls in Norway, in 2005.
Norway · Girls

Ma by decade in Norway · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Ma in Norway · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960s	43	8 of 10	5
1970s	54	9 of 10	6
1980sbusiest	132	10 of 10	13
1990s	57	7 of 10	8
2000s	4	1 of 10	4

Across Norway · Girls, the 1980s were its busiest decade, averaging 13 births a year.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Ma appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1962 to 2009. Highest recorded position: #252 in Norway in 1985.

Ma's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2009	England and Wales	female	#5556	3	High	Verified
2005	Norway	female	#609	4	High	Verified
1996	Norway	female	#532	6	High	Verified
1995	Norway	female	#455	8	High	Verified
1994	Norway	female	#412	9	High	Verified
1993	Norway	female	#582	5	High	Verified
1992	Norway	female	#612	5	High	Verified
1991	Norway	female	#326	14	High	Verified
1990	Norway	female	#415	10	High	Verified
1989	Norway	female	#291	17	High	Verified
1988	Norway	female	#400	11	High	Verified
1987	Norway	female	#286	17	High	Verified
1986	Norway	female	#297	16	High	Verified
1985	Norway	female	#252	19	High	Verified
1984	Norway	female	#473	8	High	Verified
1983	Norway	female	#416	9	High	Verified
1982	Norway	female	#281	16	High	Verified
1981	Norway	female	#408	9	High	Verified
1980	Norway	female	#389	10	High	Verified
1979	Norway	female	#390	10	High	Verified
1978	Norway	female	#571	5	High	Verified
1977	Norway	female	#467	7	High	Verified
1976	Norway	female	#565	5	High	Verified
1974	Norway	female	#564	5	High	Verified
1973	Norway	female	#495	6	High	Verified
1972	Norway	female	#524	6	High	Verified
1971	Norway	female	#494	6	High	Verified
1970	Norway	female	#606	4	High	Verified
1969	Norway	female	#415	7	High	Verified
1968	Norway	female	#377	9	High	Verified
1967	Norway	female	#566	4	High	Verified
1966	Norway	female	#527	4	High	Verified
1965	Norway	female	#464	6	High	Verified
1964	Norway	female	#524	4	High	Verified
1963	Norway	female	#516	4	High	Verified
1962	Norway	female	#462	5	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1962 and 2009, ranked in 36 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #252, first reached in 1985.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 19 births, registered in Norway in 1985.

Its record falls into 4 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 8 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2009, and 47 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Lyric · #2167, 20y
Lysander · #1382, 23y
Maahi · #790, 19y
Maahir · #1455, 18y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Chantal · #252, 32y
Rhoda · #252, 38y
Derry · #253, 31y
Medina · #254, 32y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Breeda · #252, 19y
Rhoda · #252, 38y
Samanta · #252, 30y
Sylwester · #252, 36y

Ma was ranked #252 in Norway · Girls in 1985. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Ma and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Ma without appearing here.

Ma moved ahead of

Jacqueline Compare
In 1994 they stood at #582 and #452 in Norway · Girls; by 1995 that had become #455 and #634.
Barbara Compare
In 1994 they stood at #412 and #399 in Norway · Girls; by 1995 that had become #455 and #615.
Gerd Compare
In 1993 they stood at #582 and #420 in Norway · Girls; by 1994 that had become #412 and #517.
Deborah Compare
In 1995 they stood at #582 and #485 in Norway · Girls; by 1996 that had become #532 and #627.

Moved ahead of Ma

Isabella Compare
In 1991 they stood at #326 and #385 in Norway · Girls; by 1992 that had become #612 and #302.
Zara Compare
In 2004 they stood at #532 and #614 in Norway · Girls; by 2005 that had become #609 and #323.
Rachel Compare
In 1991 they stood at #326 and #328 in Norway · Girls; by 1992 that had become #612 and #334.
Malin Compare
In 1966 they stood at #527 and #530 in Norway · Girls; by 1967 that had become #566 and #305.

Moved the opposite way to Ma

Lara Compare
Between 1968 and 2005 in Norway · Girls, Ma went from #377 to #609 while Lara went from #553 to #266.
Natalie Compare
Between 1968 and 2005 in Norway · Girls, Ma went from #377 to #609 while Natalie went from #514 to #69.
Sofia Compare
Between 1968 and 2005 in Norway · Girls, Ma went from #377 to #609 while Sofia went from #518 to #71.
Emily Compare
Between 1969 and 2005 in Norway · Girls, Ma went from #415 to #609 while Emily went from #547 to #105.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1962 to 2009. Highest recorded position: #252 in Norway in 1985. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Ma

Ma at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Ma by decade in Norway · Girls

Ma appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Ma

Ma and the names beside it

Ma moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Ma

Moved the opposite way to Ma

Ma at a glance

Ma by decade in Norway · Girls

Ma appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Ma

Ma and the names beside it

Ma moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Ma

Moved the opposite way to Ma