Maxi
A short form of the name Maximilian, derived from Latin meaning "greatest."
Name Census estimates that about 289 living Americans carry the first name Maxi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 52.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Maxi today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maxi births was 1979 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maxi. 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 Maxi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
289
~ 1 in 1,186,001 Americans
Peak year
1979
19 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,530
Tracked since 1977
Census
Maxi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 656 people with the first name Maxi, which placed it at #16,994 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
#16,994
National first-name rank
People counted
656
656 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
48.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maxi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maxi is Hispanic at 48.0%. The next largest groups are White (26.2%) and Black (18.0%). 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 Maxi 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 Maxi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino48.0% · 315
- White26.2% · 172
- Black or African American18.0% · 118
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 32
- Two or more races2.3% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Maxi
Maxi is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 298 total registrations, 156 (52.3%) were male and 142 (47.7%) were female.
Maxi as a male name
- Ranked #9,530 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2013 (16 births)
Maxi as a female name
- Ranked #16,867 in 2022
- 5 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1977 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Maxi on both sides of the split. Of the 652 people counted with this name, 299 were male (45.9%) and 353 were female (54.1%).
Popularity
Maxi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maxi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 93 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Maxi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maxi 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 Maxi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maxis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Maxi
The name Maxi is a diminutive form of the name Maximilian, which has its origins in the Latin name Maximilianus. The name Maximilianus is derived from the Roman family name Maximus, meaning "the greatest," and the name Aemilianus, which is derived from the Roman family name Aemilius.
The name Maximilianus dates back to ancient Rome and was popularized during the Roman Empire. It was a name given to male children born into the Aemilii family, one of the oldest and most distinguished families in ancient Rome. The name Maximilianus was also used by several Roman emperors, including Maximilian I, who ruled from 286 to 305 AD.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Maxi as a diminutive form of Maximilian can be found in the medieval period. In the 12th century, a Bavarian nobleman named Maxi von Wittelsbach was recorded in historical documents. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach, one of the oldest and most influential noble families in Europe.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Maxi. One such individual was Maxi Herber, a German painter and printmaker who lived from 1920 to 2003. He was known for his expressive and colorful abstract works, which were influenced by the Expressionist and Surrealist movements.
Another notable figure was Maxi Milian, a German actor and comedian who lived from 1928 to 2001. He appeared in numerous films and television shows and was known for his satirical and humorous performances.
In the world of sports, Maxi Rodriguez, an Argentine professional footballer born in 1981, is a prominent figure. He played as a midfielder for several top clubs, including Atlético Madrid and Liverpool, and represented Argentina in multiple World Cup tournaments.
Maxi Biancucchi, an Italian singer-songwriter born in 1964, is also known for his contributions to the music industry. He has released several successful albums and is known for his unique blend of rock, pop, and folk music.
Maxi Jazz, whose real name was Maxwell Fraser, was a British musician and rapper who was a founding member of the electronic music group Faithless. He was born in 1957 and passed away in 2022, leaving a lasting impact on the British music scene.
People
Maxi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maxi 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
Maxi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maxi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 289 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maxi 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 1,186,001 US residents.
Is Maxi a common name?
We classify Maxi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 298 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maxi most popular?
The single biggest year for Maxi was 1979, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maxi 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 Maxi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 656 people with the name Maxi, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,994 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 Maxi 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 Maxi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Maxi on both sides of the split. Of the 652 people counted with this name, 299 were male (45.9%) and 353 were female (54.1%). 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 Maxi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maxi is Hispanic at 48.0%. The next largest groups are White (26.2%) and Black (18.0%). 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 Maxi most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Maxi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.0% (315 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 Maxi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maxi a male name?
Yes, 52.3% of people registered as Maxi 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 Maxi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maxi 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 Maxi 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 common is the name Maxi?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Maxi at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.