| Sources | Pronunciation guide |
(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: mah-ee-ko [má.ì.kò̞]
Etymology and/or ways to write:
The most commonly used form of this name is 舞子, made up of 舞 (mai) meaning “dance” and 子 (ko) meaning “child.” The name coincides with the term for an apprentice geisha, though the word is written in kanji as 舞妓. Kanji in use for the 2-kanji first element of this name include:
| ma (ま) | i (い) |
| 麻 “hemp, flax” | 衣 “clothing” |
| 真 “pure, true” | 依 “reliance, dependence” |
| 茉 part of 茉莉 (matsuri) “Arabian jasmine” | 以 phonetic kanji |
| 万 “ten thousand” | 唯/惟 “only” |
| 磨/摩 “polish, shine” | 伊 phonetic kanji |
| 満 “full, whole” | 井 phonetic kanji |
| 雅 “refinement, elegance” |
Popularity:
Maiko started to be used among the general population in the 1900s amidst an explosion of -ko names, though it was uncommonly used until the 1970s when it started to rise in popularity. In that decade, over 0.3% of girls were given this name, peaking in the 1980s with the percentage of over 0.8%.
By 1990, it was already past its peak with around 0.307% of girls receiving this name, rising slightly to around 0.377% in 1992 before dropping out of the top 100 by 1994 with around 0.204% of girls being given this name in that year. By 2009, the percentage fell to less than 0.03%, remaining this way ever since.
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Beyond Sakura and Hiroshi 