May (given name)
{{Infobox given name
| name = May
| image=
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| pronunciation=
| gender = Female
| meaning = the month of May, Flower
| origin = American latin american
| related names =nickname for Mary or Maya, Maia and Mai
| footnotes =
}}
May is an English feminine given name. It is derived from the name of the month, which comes from Maia, the name of a Roman fertility goddess.{{cite web|url=http://www.mfnames.com/fnames/m/origin-and-meaning-of-may.htm|website= MFnames.com|title=Origin and Meaning of May|accessdate=18 September 2015}} The name May is also used as a pet form of Mary and Margaret.
It can also be a variant of the Arabic name Mai مي, which either means Water or Little gazelle.{{Cite journal |last=الشناوي |first=عيد |date=2022-01-01 |title=آراء الکوفيين في مبنيات الأسماء وأثرها الدلالي في تفسير القرطبي |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.21608/malu.2022.99255.1006 |journal=مجلة علوم العربية |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=177–192 |doi=10.21608/malu.2022.99255.1006 |issn=2786-0000}}
People
- May Allison (1890–1989), American actress
- May Allison (runner) (born 1964), Canadian runner
- May Arida (1926–2018), Lebanese socialite
- May Arslan (1928–2013), member of the Lebanese Arslan family
- May Chidiac (born 1964), Lebanese journalist and politician
- May Chow, Canadian chef
- Beryl May Dent, (1900–1977), English mathematical physicist
- May Gibbs (1877–1969), Australian children's author and illustrator
- May Golan (born 1986), Israeli politician, political activist and commentator
- May Hezlet (1882–1978), British amateur golfer and sports writer
- May Hollinworth (1895–1968), Australian theatre producer and director
- May J. (born 1988), Japanese singer
- May Kassab (born 1981), Egyptian artist
- May McAvoy (1899–1984), American actor
- May Mourning Farris McKinney (1874-1959), American non-profit executive
- May Mikati (-??), wife of Najib Mikati, Lebanese prime minister
- May W. Newburger (1920–2012), New York politician
- May Robson (1858–1942), Australian actress
- May Sarton (1912–1995), American poet and novelist
- May Sayegh (1940–2023), Palestinian poet and activist
- May Scaff (1969-2018) Syrian actress and activist
- Lady May Abel Smith (1906–1994), a member of the British royal family
- May Erwin Talmadge (1885–1973), American civic leader and 19th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution
- May Whitty (1865–1948), English actress
- May Yarrowick (1876-1949) Australian Aboriginal mid-wife
- May Ziadeh (1886-1941), Lebanese-Palestinian poet and writer
Fictional characters
- May, one of the main characters in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Merchant's Tale"
- Aunt May, Peter Parker/Spider-Man's aunt and primary caregiver
- May Bellamy, girlfriend of John Dortmunder in novels by Donald E. Westlake
- May Kanker, youngest of the Kanker sisters in the animated series Ed, Edd n Eddy
- May Kasahara, in Haruki Murakami's novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- May Lee (The King of Fighters), in The King of Fighters fighting game series
- Melinda May, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent played by Ming-Na Wen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and subsequently appearing in Marvel comics
- May (Guilty Gear), a character in the Guilty Gear video game series
- May, localize version of Mii, main character in Jungle de Ikou!
- May (Pokémon), in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire, as well as the anime series
- May, in the show Sid the Science Kid
- May, an American Pekin duck from the Donald Duck universe
- Mei (given name), also spelled as May
- Mae (given name)
- Mai (Arabic name), also written as May