Maxime
A masculine name of French origin meaning "greatest".
Name Census estimates that about 1,104 living Americans carry the first name Maxime. It is a predominantly male name (95.1% of registrations). The average person named Maxime today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maxime births was 2001 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maxime. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Maxime with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Maxime is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 55 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 310,466 Americans
Peak year
2001
47 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,140
Tracked since 1920
Census
Maxime in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,038 people with the first name Maxime, which placed it at #7,483 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,483
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,038 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maxime
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maxime is White at 61.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.2%) and Hispanic (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Maxime described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Maxime at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.8% · 1,259
- Black or African American26.2% · 534
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 103
- Two or more races5.0% · 102
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Maxime
Maxime leans heavily male at 95.1% of total registrations, but 55 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Maxime as a male name
- Ranked #4,140 in 2024
- 26 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2001 (40 births)
Maxime as a female name
- Ranked #17,147 in 2019
- 5 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2001 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maxime leans strongly male. 1,804 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 242 female bearers (11.8%).
Popularity
Maxime: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maxime from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 351 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Maxime remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maxime 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 Maxime during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maximes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Maxime, while Texas, Massachusetts, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 64 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maxime
The name Maxime has its origins in the Latin language, derived from the root word "maximus," meaning "greatest" or "highest." This name first appeared in ancient Roman times, around the first century AD.
The popularity of the name Maxime can be traced back to the Roman Empire, where it was used as both a given name and a surname. It was often given to male children with the hope that they would grow up to achieve greatness and live up to the meaning of their name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maxime can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Suetonius, who mentioned a man named Maximus Valerius in his work "The Twelve Caesars." This text, written in the early second century AD, provides insight into the use of the name during the Roman era.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Maxime. One of the most famous was Maxime Radix (1598-1677), a French mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the fields of calculus and celestial mechanics.
Another prominent figure was Maxime Weygand (1867-1965), a French military leader who served as Chief of Staff of the French Army during World War I and later commanded the Allied forces in the Middle East during World War II.
In the realm of literature, Maxime Gorky (1868-1936), a Russian writer and political activist, was a pioneering figure in the development of socialist realism. His works, such as "The Mother" and "The Lower Depths," explored the lives of the working class and advocated for social change.
The name Maxime has also been associated with notable figures in the arts. Maxime Tytgat (1909-1971) was a Belgian painter and sculptor known for his cubist and abstract works, while Maxime Loiseau (1943-2009) was a French actor and director who appeared in numerous films and television productions.
Another individual of historical significance was Maxime Vachier (1906-1989), a French resistance fighter during World War II. He played a crucial role in the liberation of France and was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille de la Résistance for his bravery and service.
People
Maxime + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maxime 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
Maxime: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maxime?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,104 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maxime 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 310,466 US residents.
Is Maxime a common name?
We classify Maxime as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,132 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maxime most popular?
The single biggest year for Maxime was 2001, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maxime is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maxime in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,038 people with the name Maxime, or 0.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,483 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Maxime in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Maxime?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maxime leans strongly male. 1,804 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 242 female bearers (11.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Maxime?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maxime is White at 61.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.2%) and Hispanic (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Maxime most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maxime in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.8% (1,259 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Maxime in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maxime a male name?
Yes, 95.1% of people registered as Maxime 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.
Is Maxime still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maxime in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Maxime can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Maxime?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Maxime at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.