Maxell
From the Germanic and Latin roots meaning "greatest".
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Maxell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Maxell today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maxell births was 1917 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maxell. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Maxell. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1917
6 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,436
Tracked since 1917
Popularity
Maxell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maxell from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 11 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maxell by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Maxell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maxell
The given name Maxell has its roots in the Latin name Maximus, derived from the word "maximus" meaning "greatest" or "largest." The name grew in popularity during the Roman Empire, often given to male children as a symbol of strength and power.
Maxell is a variant spelling of the more common Maxwell, which emerged as an English surname derived from the Scottish clan name Maxwell. The Maxwell clan played a significant role in Scottish history, with members holding prominent positions in the government and military.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maxell can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. Here, the name appears as "Maccusville," referring to a location in Somerset.
In the Middle Ages, the name Maxell was occasionally used in religious contexts. Saint Maxell, a 7th-century bishop of Avranches in Normandy, is one notable example. His name appears in various hagiographies and liturgical texts from the period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the first name Maxell. One of the earliest is Maxell of Thessalonica (c. 1320 - 1384), a Byzantine scholar and philosopher known for his works on rhetoric and logic.
In the 16th century, Maxell de Béthune (1559 - 1641) was a prominent French diplomat and statesman who served as the Duke of Sully under King Henry IV.
The name gained further prominence in the 19th century with individuals like Maxell Planck (1858 - 1947), the German theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
Other notable figures with the first name Maxell include Maxell Perkins (1884 - 1947), the influential American book editor who worked with authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, and Maxell D. Taylor (1901 - 1987), an American diplomat and military leader who served as the Commander of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.
While the spelling "Maxell" is less common than "Maxwell," it has been used throughout history, often as a variant of the more popular form. The name's enduring legacy reflects its associations with strength, power, and intellectual achievement.
People
Maxell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maxell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Maxell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maxell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maxell going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Maxell a common name?
We classify Maxell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 38 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maxell most popular?
The single biggest year for Maxell was 1917, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maxell is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Maxell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maxell in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.