| Mei | Xia | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Beautiful | Rosy dawn clouds (霞) |
| Origin | chinese | Chinese |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | MAY | SHYAH |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| First appeared | 1947 | 1981 |
| Peak year | 2025 (117) | 2019 (37) |
| In 2025 | 117 | 25 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Mei | Xia |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 483 | 179 |
| 2010s | 483 | 251 |
| 2000s | 385 | 145 |
| 1990s | 191 | 120 |
| 1980s | 136 | 108 |
| 1970s | 110 | 0 |
| 1960s | 37 | 0 |
| 1950s | 16 | 0 |
| 1940s | 18 | 0 |
From Chinese 美 (měi) 'beautiful'. One of the most direct beauty characters used in given names (another 梅 means 'plum blossom'; this entry is for 美 'beautiful').
Xia is commonly the character 霞, “the rosy glow of dawn,” or 夏, “summer.”
Mei is more popular than Xia today: about 117 US babies were given the name Mei in 2025, compared with 25 named Xia.
Mei means Beautiful (chinese origin), while Xia means Rosy dawn clouds (霞) (Chinese origin).
In US records, Mei first appears in 1947 and Xia in 1981, so Mei has the longer recorded history.