Find out how popular the last name Maxim is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Maxim.

Maxim, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Maxim surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Maxim in America

Maxim is the 16575th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Maxim surname appeared 1,731 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Maxim.

We can also compare 2010 data for Maxim to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Maxim

The surname Maxim has its origins in ancient Rome, where it was derived from the Latin name Maximus, meaning "greatest" or "largest." This name was often bestowed upon individuals who displayed exceptional qualities or achievements.

The earliest known record of the name Maxim dates back to the 4th century AD, when it was mentioned in the writings of Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus. He referred to a military commander named Maximus who led Roman troops against the Alemanni tribe in present-day Germany.

During the Middle Ages, the name Maxim was particularly prevalent in Eastern Europe, particularly in regions that had been part of the Byzantine Empire, such as Greece and Bulgaria. In these areas, the name was often spelled as "Maximos" or "Makszim."

One notable bearer of the name was Maxim the Greek (ca. 1470-1556), a scholar and translator who played a significant role in the spread of Renaissance humanism in Russia. He was instrumental in translating important works of classical literature into Church Slavonic.

In the 16th century, the name Maxim began to appear in various parts of Western Europe, including France and England. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname in England can be found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, where a certain Maxim Woodward was mentioned in 1587.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Maxim gained popularity in Russia, where it was often associated with the aristocracy and the military. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Maxim Petrovich Bezobrazov (1638-1701), a Russian statesman and diplomat who served as the Governor of Siberia.

In the 19th century, the surname Maxim became closely linked with the inventor Hiram Stevens Maxim (1840-1916), an American-born British inventor best known for his development of the first portable, fully automatic machine gun. His invention, the Maxim gun, was widely adopted by militaries around the world and had a significant impact on modern warfare.

Other notable individuals with the surname Maxim include the Russian playwright and short story writer Maxim Gorky (1868-1936), whose real name was Alexei Maximovich Peshkov, and the American author Hudson Maxim (1853-1927), who was the older brother of Hiram Stevens Maxim and a pioneer in the field of explosives technology.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Maxim

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Maxim.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Maxim was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Maxim has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Maxim was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Maxim, please contact us.

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