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I like May. Mae feels a little contrived and overly cutesy, and that spelling makes me want to pronounce it like the Japanese word for 'before/in front of'. It also feels misspelled in the same way as Lilly-- because there is an English word that's so close, something like Lilly or Mae instead of Lily or May looks "kre8yv" even if it has a history and isn't full of random y's. I know Lilly comes from a nickname for Elizabeth and Mae comes from a nickname for Margaret, Mary, etc., they don't actually come from misspellings of the words Lily and May, but that's still what they come across like to me.
I still think it looks nice (it's not an awkward-looking spelling at all) and it's very cute, I don't hate it or even dislike it, I just wouldn't choose it over May.

This message was edited 7/8/2023, 7:26 PM

Wow. Didn’t know so many people disliked Mae! I would say Mae, it looks nicer, If I have a daughter someday, her middle name would prob be Mae!

May all the way

May. I have a grand aunt Mary who has always been known as May.

May as a first name but Mae as a middle name

Mae, definitely. May is sweet too, but definitely more tied to the month, whereas Mae looks more like a name. I like Mae a lot actually.

eh... definitely May. i think May feels more natural than Mae and is overall a better option. and, just because it's also the name of a month doesn't mean it's not "namey" either. you wouldn't name someone "Eypryll" or "Jooun" or "Augistt" instead of April or June or August just so it feels more "namey" and less "monthy," would you?

This message was edited 7/3/2023, 10:37 AM

I heartily dislike Mae. And Rae. Nobody changes the spelling of April or Rose, and I don't see the difference. Aypryl and Rhowz would not be taken seriously; why should Mae be?

Mae because it looks more namey. May looks like the month and the word.

May.

I much prefer May. Something about the ‘ae’ in Mae doesn’t look quite right to me.

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I like May as a first name, especially paired with a long middle name like Victoria, Elizabeth or Evangeline.

I prefer Mae. Something about it just looks nicer, softer and more feminine, also more name-like as well. May is fine, but I always opt for Mae.

This message was edited 7/2/2023, 7:19 PM

I prefer Mae, since it seems more like a name and less than a month; May is also gorgeous, but I really love Mae.

May, but Mae as a mn is nice

I like this name and lean slightly toward a May preference.

Oof.

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I actually don't know.

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I'm inclined to say Mae. I'm intrigued by the fact that it has shown back up on the lower regions of popularity lists in the last decade. Plus there are some great famous bearers - Mae Jemison, Mae West, etc. May solely feels associated with the month, whereas Mae, to me, feels distinct as a name.

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I don't love the name, but I don't dislike it either.