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I love the name, but am partial to the spelling Mae. I just think it looks nicer with the 'e' for some reason.

I prefer May. Mae looks awkward and incomplete to me, more like a nickname, whereas May looks like a full name.

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Maybe people use Mae because it looks a bit more modern, because May was popular a long time ago and might seem dated?

I think Mae is a US speciality; I've never seen a Mae in South Africa or the UK, but there are plenty of (elderly or extinct) May people in both.

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I like May, and would use it given enough daughters, which one never is. I wouldn't like Mae at all: it gives me the same impression of needless, frilly fussiness that I get from Isabelle but not from Isabel. I think of May as a flower rather than a month, and fiddling with the spelling would be like turning Rose into Rohz.

I much prefer Mae. May reminds me of the word (not of the season but the other word: 'She may die' etc, you know what I mean), so when it's in a combo, for example May Cordelia, I always think 'may Cordelia what??'. I think this is why people prefer Mae. I know it sounds the same but I like Mae much better. Mae has an old fashioned movie star feel. I used to prefer May for a long time, though.

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There's also a young actress named Mae Whitman (I don't think she's that popular but people might have heard of her she was in many movies and also a TV series, a child and teen star) and Mae West is an actress.

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So yeah, I definitely prefer Mae.

I honestly do not have a preference for either spelling, but I do think it is a simple and sweet name.

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I know two babies due this summer that will have this as their middle name. I know one will be Elizabeth Mae, and it is after both of her grandmothers.

See how Mae is my middle name, I'm partical to it but I prefer the May spelling overall!

Some people may consider May more of an elderly name, or they just associate it with the month and they don't like month names. I personally like May better.

I would choose May over Mae. Mae sounds like the second part of a hypenated hillbilly name or generally incomplete for some reason.

I love May! I think it's adorable. Mae not so much... but I don't hate it either. It just doesn't look as old fashioned and it's kind of cutesy.

I'm with you. I prefer May to Mae. Mae is just kind of a noise to me, while May is a lovely month filled with warm breezes that smell good and flowers that smell even better. I think the name is pretty, but it doesn't make me jump out of my chair.

Not only is Mae trendier than May, but it does look a bit prettier. Perhaps there are people like me, who have a grandparent named Mae. There is glamour surrounding the name, a classic, soft kind. 'May' I help you? It's used in every day language. It's by no means an ugly name, but I can see why people prefer the allure of Mae, because I do too.

This message was edited 5/20/2012, 7:12 PM

I like both Mae and May. But I like Mae more than May. Mae has more chutzpah. Mae would draw attention to herself. Mae would be quirky. May would be sweet, quiet, sedate. May would have sisters named Margaret and Mary and Mae would have sisters named Ruby and Lucy. Mae would enter a dance marathon and May would never dream of doing that. Mae bobbed her hair back in the twenties but May kept hers long. Mae wanted a career back then but May just wanted to get married. Mae would take up smoking, and May would take up crocheting. I don't think that Mae and May would get along at all, actually.

Oh, please, couldn't May become more loved!? May is one of the best names ever.

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Mae, on the other hand, just is not right and never will be.