Maxwell
Feminine · “Scots "Mack's pool”
Maxwell is given to boys far more often — 108,732 boys against 735 girls since 1880. See Maxwell as a boy name
Maxwell is a place on a river, not a person's name. Mack's wiel — a wiel being a pool or a still stretch of water — named a spot on the Tweed near Kelso, and the family who held it took the name. Every Maxwell descends from that pool, and the Max inside it is a Scandinavian personal name, not the Latin maximus.
How old is the name Maxwell?
Maxwell first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Maxwell is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Maxwell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maxwell most popular?
Maxwell peaked in 2017, reaching #2635 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 4,498 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Maccus to Maxwell
The story of Maxwell
The Maxwells became one of the great Border families of Scotland, and the surname traveled with Scottish emigration to Ulster, America and the colonies. Its move into given-name use follows the general Scottish-surname pattern, arriving for boys in the twentieth century. The female entries are recent, peaking in 2017, and belong to the current movement of hard-edged boys' surnames to girls — Maxwell, Emerson, Sawyer, Rowan. What makes Maxwell work in that column is Max, which had already become a fashionable girls' name in its own right.
Meaning
Scots "Mack's pool", on the River Tweed
From Maccus, a Norse-derived personal name found in twelfth-century Scotland, plus Old English wiel, a pool or eddy in a river. The place is documented and the etymology is not disputed. Note that this Max is unconnected to Maximilian and Maxine, which come from Latin maximus, greatest — the two Maxes have entirely separate histories and only meet in the nickname.
How the name formed
- Maccus
- Maccuswiel
- Maxwell
Pronouncing Maxwell
MAKS-wel
Two syllables with the stress on the first. The x is a ks cluster. There is no ambiguity in the pronunciation; the question with this name is entirely one of register.
Nicknames for Maxwell
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 201766 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2635reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −46.4%15 in 2025, from 28
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.
Maxwell in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Maxwells among us
people named Maxwell are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Maxwell
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rayleen test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maxwell's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rayleen climbed just as high around 1955, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rayleen's path sketches the road Maxwell is walking now.
Maxwell 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
Maxwell beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maxwell in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a documented Scottish place and a great Border family behind it.
- Max is available as a short form and is currently fashionable for girls.
- It is unmistakable in both spelling and pronunciation.
- It is overwhelmingly a men's name and a surname.
- The Max in it is unrelated to the Latin maximus, despite sharing the nickname.
- Seven letters with an x is a lot of name to write out.
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Maxwell
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maxwells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Maxwell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maxwell in 2025?
- Maxwell ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maxwell?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Maxwell — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maxwell with classmates?
- Maxwell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maxwell
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maxwell? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maxwell and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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