Maximillian
A name of Latin origin meaning "the greatest".
Name Census estimates that about 5,708 living Americans carry the first name Maximillian. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Maximillian today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maximillian births was 1999 (250 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maximillian. 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 Maximillian with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.7K
~ 1 in 60,048 Americans
Peak year
1999
250 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,160
Tracked since 1914
Census
Maximillian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,552 people with the first name Maximillian, which placed it at #4,196 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
#4,196
National first-name rank
People counted
4.6K
4,552 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maximillian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maximillian is White at 60.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.5%) and Two or More Races (8.1%). 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 Maximillian 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 Maximillian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.0% · 2,731
- Hispanic or Latino21.5% · 979
- Two or more races8.1% · 368
- Black or African American5.3% · 241
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 214
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 19
Popularity
Maximillian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maximillian from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,007 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maximillian 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 Maximillian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maximillians live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Maximillian, while Nevada, Iowa, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 148 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maximillian
The name Maximillian has its origins in the Latin language. It is a combination of the words "maximus" meaning "greatest" and "Aemilius" which was a Roman family name. The name was widely used during the Roman Empire, particularly among the aristocratic and wealthy classes who valued names with powerful and prestigious meanings.
In the 4th century AD, the name gained popularity in Christian contexts after St. Maximilian of Tebessa, a Christian martyr who was executed for refusing to serve in the Roman army. His example inspired many parents to name their sons Maximillian as a symbol of their faith and commitment to Christianity.
The name Maximillian was also found in medieval European texts, particularly in Germany and Austria where it was often associated with nobility and royalty. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 to 1519. He was known for his strong leadership and his efforts to consolidate the Hapsburg dynasty's power in Europe.
Another notable figure bearing the name Maximillian was Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria from 1679 to 1726. He was a skilled military commander and played a significant role in the War of the Spanish Succession, leading Bavarian forces against the Hapsburgs.
In the 19th century, Maximillian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire, ruling from 1864 to 1867 before being executed by Mexican forces. Despite his short reign, he left a lasting impact on Mexican history and culture.
The name Maximillian also had its place in the arts. Maximilian Schell, an Austrian-Swiss actor born in 1930 and died in 2014, won an Academy Award for his performance in the 1961 film "Judgment at Nuremberg." His portrayal of a German defense attorney in the Nuremberg trials was widely acclaimed.
Another notable bearer of the name was Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz in 1941. His act of self-sacrifice and compassion earned him recognition as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church.
People
Maximillian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maximillian 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
Maximillian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maximillian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,708 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maximillian 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 60,048 US residents.
Is Maximillian a common name?
We classify Maximillian as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,880 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maximillian most popular?
The single biggest year for Maximillian was 1999, when 250 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maximillian is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maximillian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,552 people with the name Maximillian, or 1.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,196 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 Maximillian 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 Maximillian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maximillian appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,552 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Maximillian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maximillian is White at 60.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.5%) and Two or More Races (8.1%). 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 Maximillian most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maximillian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.0% (2,731 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 Maximillian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maximillian a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maximillian 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 Maximillian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maximillian 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 Maximillian 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 Maximillian?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Maximillian on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.