Etymology

From แม่ ‎(mɛ̂ɛ, “lady; mother; mistress; woman; etc”) +‎ อยู่ ‎(yùu, “to be at, in, on, etc; to remain, to stay; etc”) +‎ หัว ‎(hǔua, “head”); literally "lady above [all/our] heads", "lady at [our] heads", etc.

Pronunciation