2000
#10,740
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,727
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.01
Rare Last name
Maxie
A surname derived from a shortened form of the given name Maximus, meaning "greatest" in Latin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,352 Americans carry the last name Maxie. That puts it at #10,479 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.98 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 102,254 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Maxie 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.
Bearers in the US
3.4K
1 in 102,254
Census rank
#10,479
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,923 bearers of the surname Maxie in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.98 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10479th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Maxie, the largest self-reported group is Black at 62.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Maxie
The surname Maxie has its origins in Scotland, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It is believed to be derived from the Scottish Gaelic personal name "Makhsaimh," which itself comes from the Latin name "Maximus," meaning "greatest" or "largest."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maxie can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a collection of homage rolls recording those who swore fealty to King Edward I of England after his conquest of Scotland. The entry "Adam Makky" is thought to be an early variant spelling of Maxie.
In the 15th century, the name appeared in various legal and ecclesiastical records in Scotland, such as the "Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis" (Register of the Bishopric of Glasgow), where a "Johannes Makky" was mentioned in 1439.
The Maxie surname is also associated with several notable historical figures. One of the earliest was Sir John Maxie (c. 1540-1616), a Scottish landowner and member of the Scottish Parliament. Another prominent bearer of the name was Reverend Thomas Maxie (1685-1761), a Scottish Presbyterian minister who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1746.
In the 18th century, the Maxie name spread to other parts of the British Isles, including England and Ireland. One notable English Maxie was Captain William Maxie (1735-1807), a naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War.
Other notable individuals with the Maxie surname include Robert Maxie (1823-1900), a Scottish-born Canadian businessman and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and John Maxie (1867-1942), an American baseball player and manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the Maxie surname has Scottish roots, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly through Scottish emigration and settlement in countries like Canada, the United States, and Australia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maxie
Among Census respondents with the surname Maxie, the largest self-reported group is Black at 62.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Maxie 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 Maxie surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.0% · 1,811
- White27.2% · 796
- Two or more races5.5% · 162
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Maxie
Maxie 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
#9,756
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,322
+595 bearers (+21.8%)
Per 100,000 1.13
Rank movement Up 984 places
2020
#10,479
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,923
-399 bearers (-12.0%)
Per 100,000 0.98
Rank movement Down 723 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,740 | 2,727 | 1.01 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,756 | 3,322 | 1.13 | +595 bearers (+21.8%) | Up 984 places |
| 2020 | #10,479 | 2,923 | 0.98 | -399 bearers (-12.0%) | Down 723 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 Maxie 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 | #9,756 | #10,479 | -7.4% |
| Count | 3,322 | 2,923 | -12.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.13 | 0.98 | -13.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Maxie bearers went from 3,322 to 2,923 (-12.0% change). The surname moved down 723 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,756 to #10,479.
FAQ
Maxie surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Maxie?
Name Census estimates that about 3,352 living Americans carry the surname Maxie. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 102,254 residents.
How common is Maxie?
Maxie ranks #10,479 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.98 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,923 people with the surname Maxie. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,352), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.98 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.98 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Maxie.
Has Maxie become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Maxie went from 3,322 recorded bearers to 2,923. That is a decrease of 399 (-12.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,756 to #10,479.
What does the Census say about the background of Maxie?
Among Census respondents with the surname Maxie, the largest self-reported group is Black at 62.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.2%) 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Maxie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.0% (1,811 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Maxie appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (62.0%), White (27.2%), 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 Maxie (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 Maxie mean?
A surname derived from a shortened form of the given name Maximus, meaning "greatest" in Latin. 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 Maxie (0.98 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 people have the surname Maxie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.