Head to head · Boys' names
Maximo vs Mohammed
#580 vs #595 in 2025
Maximo is a whisker ahead (#580 vs #595 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maximo is climbing the charts fast, Mohammed is holding its place on the charts.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Maximo leads 4 measures of 6; Mohammed leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1900s: Maximo #1130, Mohammed — — Maximo higher
- 1910s: Maximo #2823, Mohammed — — Maximo higher
- 1920s: Maximo #2036, Mohammed #4002 — Maximo higher
- 1930s: Maximo #2280, Mohammed #2719 — Maximo higher
- 1940s: Maximo #1884, Mohammed #3339 — Maximo higher
- 1950s: Maximo #1950, Mohammed #3481 — Maximo higher
- 1960s: Maximo #1700, Mohammed #2842 — Maximo higher
- 1970s: Maximo #1618, Mohammed #1475 — Mohammed higher
- 1980s: Maximo #1729, Mohammed #771 — Mohammed higher
- 1990s: Maximo #1753, Mohammed #600 — Mohammed higher
- 2000s: Maximo #1000, Mohammed #602 — Mohammed higher
- 2010s: Maximo #835, Mohammed #574 — Mohammed higher
- 2020s: Maximo #649, Mohammed #644 — Mohammed higher
Maximo stood higher in 7 of 13 decades; Mohammed has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maximo | Mohammed |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | #1130 | — |
| 1910s | #2823 | — |
| 1920s | #2036 | #4002 |
| 1930s | #2280 | #2719 |
| 1940s | #1884 | #3339 |
| 1950s | #1950 | #3481 |
| 1960s | #1700 | #2842 |
| 1970s | #1618 | #1475 |
| 1980s | #1729 | #771 |
| 1990s | #1753 | #600 |
| 2000s | #1000 | #602 |
| 2010s | #835 | #574 |
| 2020s | #649 | #644 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Maximo
Not charting outside the US.
Mohammed
- England & Wales#21
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Maximo
greatest
From Latin maximus, the superlative of magnus, "great" — literally "greatest, largest."
Maximus → Máximo → Maximo
How it traveled
Maximus began as a Roman cognomen, an honorific tacked onto a family name, and it was common enough across the Latin-speaking world to be handed down for generations. Early Christianity gave it a second life: several saints of the first millennium bore the name, which kept it in liturgical calendars long after the empire had gone.
Mohammed
praised, praiseworthy
From the Arabic root ḥ-m-d, 'to praise'. The same root gives Ahmad, Mahmud and Hamid, which are separate names rather than variants of this one.
Muḥammad (Arabic) → Muhammad → Mohammed
How it traveled
The name is Arabic, and its history in the world begins with Muhammad ibn Abdullah, born in Mecca in the sixth century, the Prophet of Islam. After him the name traveled wherever Islam did — across North Africa, into Persia and Central Asia, through South and Southeast Asia, up into the Balkans and West Africa — and each language reshaped it a little: Mehmet in Turkish, Muhamed in Bosnian, Maxamed in Somali, Muhammadu in Hausa.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Maximo
MAK-see-mo
Stress falls on the first syllable in both Spanish and English; the Spanish spelling Máximo marks it with an accent. Expect an occasional mak-SEE-mo from people meeting it in print.
- Max — The everyday short form; also a standalone given name, and shared with Maxwell, Maximilian and Maximus.
- Maxi — Common in Spanish-speaking households and in Latin American sport, used affectionately rather than formally.
- Mo — An informal English-language shortening, used mostly among friends.
Mohammed
mo-HAM-med
Common American pronunciation. In Arabic it is closer to moo-HAM-mad, with the doubled m held slightly and a fuller vowel in the last syllable. Both are heard in the same family without anyone minding.
- Mo — The everyday short form in English-speaking countries; also used as a standalone name and a nickname for Moses, Maurice and Monica.
- Moe — The same short form with an American spelling, more common in older records.
- Momo — Informal, mostly family and childhood use; heard in French- and Arabic-speaking communities.
- Hamada — An Egyptian familiar form, used affectionately within family rather than in formal settings.
- Also Mido.
One short form, two names
- Maximo and Mohammed both shorten to Mo.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Maximo if you want…
- a name most people already know#580 in 2025, 506 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 174 places on the charts in five years
Choose Mohammed if you want…
- a name fewer children share#595 in 2025 — mohammed will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyMohammed is holding its place on the charts
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Mo, Moe and Momo
- a name that charts abroad tooMohammed is on the national lists of England & Wales
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Maximo
Strengths
- Meaning is settled and easy to state: Latin for "greatest."
- Recognizable across Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and Russian in closely related forms.
- Shortens instantly to Max, a nickname Americans already know and spell without help.
To consider
- The accent is the sticking point: Máximo in Spanish, Maximo in most US paperwork. Families who use both will spend a while correcting one or the other.
- Max is shared territory. It belongs equally to Maxwell, Maximilian and Maximus, so a child who goes by it may not be the only Max in the room even while remaining the only Maximo.
- It sits close enough to Maximus and Maximiliano that some people will reach for the wrong one on first hearing. A single calm repetition usually settles it for good.
Mohammed
Strengths
- Recognized on sight almost anywhere in the world — few names cross as many languages, alphabets and borders intact.
- Mo is an established short form with generations of use behind it, and it also stands alone.
- Fourteen centuries of continuous use, with no gap and no revival needed.
To consider
- Several English spellings compete: Muhammad, Mohamed, Mohammad, Muhammed. Whichever you choose, expect to spell it out at the doctor's office, and expect any single spelling's statistics to understate how common the name really is.
- It is the Prophet's name, and in Muslim families that carries real reverence — a consideration for religious and non-religious households alike. It is also a name that occasionally meets prejudice in the US, which is worth naming plainly rather than discovering later.
- Because it is given so widely in some communities, many boys go by a middle or second name day to day. That can be an advantage or an extra thing to explain, depending on the family.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Maximo and Mohammed in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Maximo and Mohammed?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Maximo and Mohammed — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maximo or Mohammed — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maximo or Mohammed?
- Maximo, in 2025: Maximo ranked #580 with 506 babies; Mohammed ranked #595 with 486 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maximo or Mohammed?
- Maximo. Over the last five years Maximo moved up 174 places; Mohammed moved up 46 places.
- Which is the older name, Maximo or Mohammed?
- Maximo entered the US charts in 1903; Mohammed entered the US charts in 1922. On the American record, Maximo is the older name.
- How many people are named Maximo and Mohammed?
- About 8,600 people named Maximo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 16,000 people named Mohammed are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Maximo and Mohammed share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Mo, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Maximo, Mohammed and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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