Maximilian
Masculine · “greatest”
Maximilian is the Latin superlative made into a name: maximus, greatest, extended into the Roman form Maximilianus. Five syllables that fall into an easy rhythm — mak-si-MIL-ee-un — with the whole weight of it resting on the third beat, and a short form, Max, waiting inside it from the first day. It has been carried by Habsburg emperors, by saints, and by American schoolchildren for well over a century.
How old is the name Maximilian?
Maximilian first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Maximilian alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 18,500 people named Maximilian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maximilian most popular?
Maximilian peaked in 2013, reaching #429 nationally. Today it ranks #590, 161 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Maximilian appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Maximus to Maximilian
The story of Maximilian
The root is the Latin adjective maximus, and the longer Maximilianus was already in use in the late Roman world — borne by early Christian martyrs venerated in the Alpine and Balkan provinces. The name became a fixture of the House of Habsburg from the fifteenth century, when Maximilian I was elected Holy Roman Emperor, and from there it spread through Austria, Bavaria and the Catholic German-speaking lands as a princely and then an ordinary given name. German and Austrian emigration carried it to the United States, where it settled in early in the twentieth century and has stayed on the books ever since. Its Spanish and Italian cousins, Maximiliano and Massimiliano, traveled the same Latin road by a different route, which is part of why the name reads as familiar in so many American communities at once.
Meaning
greatest
From Latin maximus, 'greatest', through the Roman name Maximilianus, an extended form of Maximus.
How the name formed
- Maximus
- Maximilianus
- Maximilian
- Max
Related forms: Maximilian · Maximiliano · Massimiliano · Maximilien · Maksymilian · Maxmilián
Pronouncing Maximilian
mak-si-MIL-ee-un
Four syllables in relaxed American speech (mak-si-MIL-yun) is equally standard. German speakers say mak-si-MEE-lee-ahn, with the stress further forward and a long ee in the middle.
Nicknames for Maximilian
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1907
- Most boys named
- 2015698 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #429reached in 2013
- Change vs 2023
- −4.1%497 in 2025, from 518
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Maximilian in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Maximilian in German — same name
- Maximiliano in Spanish — related form
- Massimiliano in Italian — related form
- Maximilien in French — related form
- Maksymilian in Polish — spelling variant
- Maxmilián in Czech — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Maximilians among us
people named Maximilian are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,437 born in 2025 was named Maximilian
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Maximilian
- #590
- Maximilian on the 2025 chart
- #466
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Maximilian went to 497 boys in 2025, but Maximillian and Maksymilian are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 591, which makes it the 466th most-given boys’ name of the year — 124 places above the chart.
- Maximilian497
- Maximillian86
- Maksymilian8
About 1 boy in 2,890 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 3,437 for Maximilian itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Demarcus test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maximilian's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Demarcus climbed just as high around 1988, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Demarcus's path sketches the road Maximilian is walking now.
Maximilian sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Maximilian is headed
Maximilian should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Maximilian beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maximilian in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Comes with Max already built in — a short form so established that no explaining is ever needed, at any age or in any setting.
- Recognized on sight across German, Spanish, Italian, French and Polish, each with its own spelling of the same name.
- A documented line running from Roman antiquity through the Habsburg emperors to the present, with no gap in use.
- Long on the American record without ever becoming crowded — a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
- Maximillian, with a double L, is a persistent misspelling, and forms will often come back that way. Worth deciding early whether you correct it every time or let it go.
- Five syllables invite shortening, so in practice the child may be Max nearly all the time — and Max is considerably more common than the full name. If that trade doesn't appeal, this is the wrong long form.
- It sits close to Maximiliano, Maximo and Maximus, so expect occasional mix-ups, particularly in places where the Spanish forms are also widely used.
- The name carries some grand history — emperors, a canonized martyr — which reads as substance to some ears and as a lot of name for a small person to others. Both reactions are common and neither lasts long.
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What they receive
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Maximilian
Masculine · #590 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maximilians are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 18,500 people named Maximilian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Maximilian?
- Maximilian is the most-used spelling in US records — 497 of the 591 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Maximillian and Maksymilian.
- How popular is the name Maximilian in 2025?
- Maximilian ranks #590 among US boy names in 2025, with 497 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maximilian?
- About 1 in every 3,437 US boys born in 2025 was named Maximilian — 497 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maximilian with classmates?
- Maximilian will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maximilian
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vicente#589 · Tru#591 · Rayan#588 · Jamir#592 · Gregory#593 · Moises#587 · Kolton#594 · Camilo#585
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maximilian? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maximilian and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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