Maxim

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Max in US United States, DE Germany, NL Netherlands and 11 more, Максим in RU Russia, UA Ukraine, KZ Kazakhstan and 6 more, Maxime in FR France, BE Belgium and Maksym in PL Poland, ES Spain.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Maxim is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name4.5K records spelled Maxim2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, India, United States, Ukraine

  Also written Màxim

• Indonesian given name482 records spelled Maxim2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Indonesia, United States, Spain

  Also written Màxim

66 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Maxim is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• from the personal name Maxim (from Latin Maximus ‘greatest’, superlative of magnus ‘great’), home by a number of early Christian saints.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, A self-evident axiom or premise; a pithy expression of a general principle or rule.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Romanian, MÁXIM2, -Ă, maximi, -e, adj., s. f. 1. Adj. Care are cea mai mare dimensiune, durată, intensitate etc.; foarte mare; maximal. 2. S. f. Cea mai mare valoare pe care o poate avea, într-un anumit interval, o funcție sau o cantitate variabilă. ♦ Centru de înaltă presiune atmosferică.

  as a word·DEX online (dexonline.ro) - DEX '96 / DEX '98 definitions with etymology

• In German, männl. Vom., deutsche Form des römischen Beinamens Maximus (lat. mäxi­ mus, -a, -um »der Größte«). Der heilige

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Romanian, MÁXIM1, maximuri, s. n. (Rar) Maximum.

  as a word·DEX online (dexonline.ro) - DEX '96 / DEX '98 definitions with etymology

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 70 years between 1923–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Maxim Litvinovb. 1876RUSoviet diplomat and foreign minister (1876–1951)
• Maksim Purkayevb. 1894RUnot in their usual nameSoviet general (1894–1953)
• Maksym Rylskyb. 1895UAnot in their usual nameUkrainian poet (1895–1964)
• Maxim Shostakovichb. 1938RUSoviet, American and Russian conductor and pianist
• Maxim Kontsevichb. 1964RURussian-born French mathematician and Fields Medallist
• Maxim Vengerovb. 1974DERussian violinist, violist, and conductor
• Max Mirnyib. 1977BYnot in their usual nameBelarusian tennis player
• Maksim Matveyevb. 1982RUnot in their usual nameRussian film and theater actor (born 1982)
• MakSimb. 1983RUnot in their usual nameRussian singer
• Éric Maxim Choupo-Motingb. 1989DECameroonian association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 696 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Maxim?

We estimate roughly 580 thousand people bear Maxim (counting its spellings and scripts) across 15 countries in our records.

In which country does Maxim have the most bearers?

Maxim is most frequently recorded in Russia, where it is most often spelled максим.

How common is Maxim compared with other names?

In Russia, Maxim is the 29th most common given name of 418,751 given names recorded there.

Is Maxim a male or female name?

Maxim is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Maxim mean?

Recorded meaning: From the French personal name Maxim, from Latin Maximus ‘greatest’.