2000
#3,154
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,461
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.88
Uncommon Last name
Maxey
Derived from a place name meaning "Mack's island" in Old English, referring to an island belonging to someone named Mack.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 11,371 Americans carry the last name Maxey. That puts it at #3,506 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.32 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 30,143 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Maxey surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Maxey with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
11K
1 in 30,143
Census rank
#3,506
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.9K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 9,916 bearers of the surname Maxey in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.32 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3506th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Maxey, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.4%) and Two or More Races (5.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Maxey
The surname Maxey is of English origin and can be traced back to the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Old English place name "Maccesieg," which means "the meadow or pasture of a man named Macca." This place name is thought to have referred to a location in the county of Gloucestershire.
The earliest recorded mention of the Maxey surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Maccesie." This entry suggests that individuals bearing this name were landowners or tenants in the region during the Norman conquest of England.
In the 13th century, records show variations of the name spelling, such as "Makey," "Macksey," and "Makesy." These variations likely emerged due to dialectal differences and the evolving nature of language over time.
One notable bearer of the Maxey surname was Sir Henry Maxey (c. 1440-1516), a prominent English lawyer and judge who served as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer during the reign of Henry VIII.
Another historical figure with this surname was John Maxey (1637-1720), an English Puritan minister and author who emigrated to New England in the late 17th century and served as the second president of Harvard College from 1692 to 1701.
In the 18th century, the Maxey surname was also found in the records of the American colonies. Jeremiah Maxey (1722-1784) was a Revolutionary War soldier from Massachusetts who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill and later settled in Vermont.
Moving into the 19th century, Edwin Maxey (1825-1898) was an American soldier and politician who served as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and later became a U.S. Senator from Texas.
Another notable bearer of the Maxey surname was Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (1840-1916), an American-born British inventor best known for the development of the Maxim machine gun, one of the first fully automatic firearms.
Throughout history, the Maxey surname has been associated with various places in England, including the villages of Maxey in Northamptonshire and Maxey in Wiltshire, both of which likely derived their names from the same Old English origins as the surname itself.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maxey
Among Census respondents with the surname Maxey, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.4%) and Two or More Races (5.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Maxey bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Maxey surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.7% · 6,912
- Black or African American19.4% · 1,923
- Two or more races5.5% · 545
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 356
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 111
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 69
Timeline
Historical Census data for Maxey
Maxey appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#3,372
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,584
+123 bearers (+1.2%)
Per 100,000 3.59
Rank movement Down 218 places
2020
#3,506
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,916
-668 bearers (-6.3%)
Per 100,000 3.32
Rank movement Down 134 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,154 | 10,461 | 3.88 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,372 | 10,584 | 3.59 | +123 bearers (+1.2%) | Down 218 places |
| 2020 | #3,506 | 9,916 | 3.32 | -668 bearers (-6.3%) | Down 134 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Maxey surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #3,372 | #3,506 | -4.0% |
| Count | 10,584 | 9,916 | -6.3% |
| Per 100K | 3.59 | 3.32 | -7.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Maxey bearers went from 10,584 to 9,916 (-6.3% change). The surname moved down 134 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,372 to #3,506.
FAQ
Maxey surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Maxey?
Name Census estimates that about 11,371 living Americans carry the surname Maxey. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 30,143 residents.
How common is Maxey?
Maxey ranks #3,506 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.32 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 9,916 people with the surname Maxey. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (11,371), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.32 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.32 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Maxey.
Has Maxey become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Maxey went from 10,584 recorded bearers to 9,916. That is a decrease of 668 (-6.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,372 to #3,506.
What does the Census say about the background of Maxey?
Among Census respondents with the surname Maxey, the largest self-reported group is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.4%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Maxey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.7% (6,912 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Maxey appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (69.7%), Black (19.4%), Two or More Races (5.5%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Maxey (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Maxey mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "Mack's island" in Old English, referring to an island belonging to someone named Mack. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Maxey (3.32 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Maxey?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.