Maia

/ˈmeɪ.ə/

//ˈmeɪ.ə// name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"maia" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Maia” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #29,729) as a proper noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#29,729
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes.

Corpus desk

Index EN-maia · Maia · English

Maia · rank #29,729 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,729
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mademoiselle

Nearest frequency peer: mademoiselle (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “Maia”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “Maia” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Maia vs mi
25% similar
Maia vs may
25% similar
Maia vs man
25% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Maia
PropertyValue
HeadwordMaia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈmeɪ.ə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#29,729
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “Maia”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).Maialands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “mademoiselle” (#29,728), “lutz” (#29,727), “Ludlow” (#29,726). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “Maia” is #29,729. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Maia is neighbouring look-alikes ("mi", "may", …), not just typos; it is aproper noun pronounced /ˈmeɪ.ə/. Frequency #29,729 among 4,057 “M” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for Maia, with forms such as "amia", "maai", and "miaa". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mi", "may", "man", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek Μαῖα (Maîa). The correct English form is Maia, spelled M-A-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes.
  2. 2
    The goddess of growth after whom the month May (Latin maius) was named.
  3. 3
    A female given name from Latin of recent usage.
  4. 4
    A star in the constellation Taurus. It is the fourth brightest star in the Pleiades cluster.
  5. 5
    66 Maja, a main belt asteroid.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Μαῖα (Maîa).

This word in other languages

Maïa(Français)Maia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amia
  • maai
  • miaa
  • mmaia

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Maia - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

amia2maai2miaa2mmaia1
Edit distance from "Maia"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Maia"?
"Maia" is spelled M-A-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmeɪ.ə/.
What does "Maia" mean?
As a proper noun, "Maia" means: Daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes.
What words are commonly confused with "Maia"?
"Maia" is commonly confused with "mi", "may", "man". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Maia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Maia" is /ˈmeɪ.ə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Maia"?
From Ancient Greek Μαῖα (Maîa). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Maia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lutz#29,727MENA#29,736lard#29,715KORS#29,711

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list