Maude

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 15 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Maude is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name48K records spelled Maude8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Canada, Belgium

  Also written Maudé, M-Aude, Maùde, Maüde, Màude

• Spanish given name8.2K records spelled Maude5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Canada, Mexico

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Maudé, Maúde

• a separate given name2.9K records spelled Maude2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Maúde

64 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Maude is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from a female personal name (see Mould). MacLysaght notes that this name was taken to County Kilkenny in the 17th century, and also occurs among Irish-speaking people in County Connemara, Ireland.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, A female given name from French; a variant of Maud. This is the most common spelling in English-speaking regions.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, a diminutive of the female given name Mathilde, variant of Maud

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Variant of Maud; from Matilda.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In Irish, An aristocratic English family, a branch of which settled in Co. Kilkenny in the seventeenth century. This name is also found among the Irish speaking people of Connemara

  as a name·The Surnames of Ireland

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Princess Alice of the United Kingdomb. 1843GBnot in their usual nameGrand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 1877 to 1878
• Maud of Walesb. 1869GBnot in their usual nameBritish princess (1869-1938), Queen consort of Norway from 1905 to 1938
• Maude Adamsb. 1872USAmerican actress (1872–1953)
• Maud Mentenb. 1879CAnot in their usual nameCanadian physician and chemist (1879–1960)
• Princess Maud, Countess of Southeskb. 1893GBnot in their usual nameBritish princess; youngest child of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, and Louise, Princess Royal (1893–1945)
• Margaret Tyzackb. 1931GBnot in their usual nameBritish actress (1931–2011)
• Princess Astrid, Mrs. Fernerb. 1932NOnot in their usual nameNorwegian princess; elder sister of King Harald V of Norway
• Maud Adamsb. 1945SEnot in their usual nameSwedish actress
• Alice Krigeb. 1954ZAnot in their usual nameSouth African actress
• Maude Apatowb. 1997USAmerican actress (born 1997)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 336 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Maude?

We estimate roughly 9.1 thousand people bear Maude (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Maude have the most bearers?

Maude is most frequently recorded in Canada, where it is most often spelled maude.

How common is Maude compared with other names?

In Canada, Maude is the 711th most common given name of 175,432 given names recorded there.

Is Maude a male or female name?

Maude is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Maude mean?

Recorded meaning: Norman form of Matilda from Flemish Mahault; used in Ireland for Maeve.