Head to head · Boys' names
Maximo vs Seth
#580 vs #581 in 2025
Maximo is a whisker ahead (#580 vs #581 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maximo is climbing the charts fast, Seth is stepping back from its peak.
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
The tape is even: Maximo and Seth each lead 3 measures of 6.
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
- 1880s: Maximo —, Seth #333 — Seth higher
- 1890s: Maximo —, Seth #500 — Seth higher
- 1900s: Maximo #1130, Seth #559 — Seth higher
- 1910s: Maximo #2823, Seth #649 — Seth higher
- 1920s: Maximo #2036, Seth #695 — Seth higher
- 1930s: Maximo #2280, Seth #797 — Seth higher
- 1940s: Maximo #1884, Seth #710 — Seth higher
- 1950s: Maximo #1950, Seth #527 — Seth higher
- 1960s: Maximo #1700, Seth #408 — Seth higher
- 1970s: Maximo #1618, Seth #174 — Seth higher
- 1980s: Maximo #1729, Seth #97 — Seth higher
- 1990s: Maximo #1753, Seth #93 — Seth higher
- 2000s: Maximo #1000, Seth #94 — Seth higher
- 2010s: Maximo #835, Seth #269 — Seth higher
- 2020s: Maximo #649, Seth #509 — Seth higher
Seth stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maximo | Seth |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #333 |
| 1890s | — | #500 |
| 1900s | #1130 | #559 |
| 1910s | #2823 | #649 |
| 1920s | #2036 | #695 |
| 1930s | #2280 | #797 |
| 1940s | #1884 | #710 |
| 1950s | #1950 | #527 |
| 1960s | #1700 | #408 |
| 1970s | #1618 | #174 |
| 1980s | #1729 | #97 |
| 1990s | #1753 | #93 |
| 2000s | #1000 | #94 |
| 2010s | #835 | #269 |
| 2020s | #649 | #509 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
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.
Seth
appointed, placed
The reading comes from the Hebrew verb shith, 'to set or place', and Genesis 4:25 makes the connection explicit: Eve names her son because God has appointed her another child in place of Abel.
Shet (Hebrew) → Sēth (Greek) → Seth (Latin) → Seth (English)
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew — Shet — and belongs to the third son of Adam and Eve in Genesis, the one through whom the genealogies continue. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Sēth, Latin kept that spelling, and English inherited it unchanged, which is why the modern form looks so close to the original.
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.
Seth
SETH
One syllable, rhyming with 'breath'. There is only one pronunciation in English, and the spelling gives it away completely.
- Sethy — Almost entirely a family diminutive used with small children; rarely survives into school years.
- Sethie — A spelling variant of the same affectionate childhood form; informal only.
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 on the way upup 174 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMaximo runs 3 syllables, Seth 1
- a newer arrivalMaximo entered the US charts in 1903
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 51% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 72% for Seth
Choose Seth if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsSeth is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesSeth is 1 syllable to Maximo's 3
- a long American recordSeth was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that feels very nowSeth is stepping back from its peak
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.
Seth
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, and short enough that nobody asks twice — a rare combination in a biblical name.
- A documented record stretching from Genesis through Greek and Latin scripture into continuous English use since the Puritans.
- Recognizable in most European languages, which read it with only small adjustments to the ending.
To consider
- The final -th does not exist in Spanish, French, Portuguese or most Asian languages, so the name is often heard and repeated as 'Set' or 'Seth-uh' outside English.
- It resists shortening. Beyond a childhood 'Sethy', there is no nickname waiting, which suits some families and leaves others without an affectionate register.
- The Egyptian god Set is written Seth in older scholarship and shows up that way in mythology books and video games. It is an unrelated name, but the overlap occasionally gets mentioned.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Maximo
51%chance Maximo feels dated by 2040
Maximo is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Seth
72%chance Seth feels dated by 2040
Seth is coming down from a big peak (#63 in 2000). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Seth 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 Seth?
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 these names appear on
- Names with an X in them
- Names that begin and end with the same letter
- Y2K names: the class of the 2000s
- Names that fell out of the top 100 this century
- all guides
Where Maximo and Seth each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maximo or Seth — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maximo or Seth?
- Maximo, in 2025: Maximo ranked #580 with 506 babies; Seth ranked #581 with 505 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maximo or Seth?
- Maximo. Over the last five years Maximo moved up 174 places; Seth moved down 149 places.
- Which is the older name, Maximo or Seth?
- Maximo entered the US charts in 1903; Seth was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Seth is the older name.
- How many people are named Maximo and Seth?
- About 8,600 people named Maximo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 156,000 people named Seth are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maximos or Seths in the classroom?
- Maximo will almost certainly be the only one in school. Seth will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. 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, Seth and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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