Maya is a name with multiple parallel origins in different traditions. In Sanskrit, māyā (माया) means "illusion" — a key concept in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy referring to the appearances that veil ultimate reality. In Greek, Maia was the eldest of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes. In Hebrew, Maya means "water." In Spanish, it can be a short form of Amalia.
Maya appeared in the U.S. top 100 in the late 1990s and has stayed there. The convergence of meanings — illusion, mother, water, the brightest Pleiad — and the simple two-syllable form have made it one of the most cross-cultural girl names in current use.
Maya reduces to eight — the number of strength and material mastery.