Max
Max was given to 2,025 boys in 2025, #180 among boys’ names; 168,577 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 119,000 Americans named Max and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (71% of everyone recorded); the median is 20 years old and half are between 12 and 34.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Max by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Max mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Max is “a male given name from Latin.”
Also “a diminutive of the male given names Maximilian and Maxwell.”
Borrowed from German Max, diminutive of Maximilian in the 19th century, later also used as a nickname for Maxwell.
/mæks/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Max?
#180 among boys’ names, 2025
Max fell from #117 in 2015 to #180 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 1.8 to 1.2 per 1,000.
3,969 babies in 2009, the peak
Max peaked in 2009, when 3,969 babies were given it (3,958 boys, #104 among boys’ names). The 2,066 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 52% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,025 | #180 | 1.2 |
| 2024 | 2,126 | #175 | 1.2 |
| 2023 | 2,205 | #163 | 1.3 |
| 2022 | 2,389 | #157 | 1.4 |
| 2021 | 2,410 | #160 | 1.4 |
| 2020 | 2,486 | #147 | 1.4 |
| 2019 | 2,755 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 2018 | 2,878 | #136 | 1.6 |
| 2017 | 3,145 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 2016 | 3,423 | #118 | 1.8 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3,422 | #117 | 1.8 |
| 2014 | 3,497 | #112 | 1.8 |
| 2013 | 3,520 | #111 | 1.9 |
| 2012 | 3,697 | #105 | 1.9 |
| 2011 | 3,956 | #96 | 2.1 |
| 2010 | 3,848 | #98 | 2.0 |
| 2009 | 3,958 | #104 | 2.0 |
| 2008 | 3,372 | #126 | 1.7 |
| 2007 | 2,882 | #141 | 1.4 |
| 2006 | 2,643 | #160 | 1.3 |
| 2005 | 2,494 | #165 | 1.2 |
| 2004 | 2,481 | #164 | 1.2 |
| 2003 | 2,460 | #162 | 1.2 |
| 2002 | 2,319 | #166 | 1.2 |
| 2001 | 2,404 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 2000 | 2,355 | #165 | 1.2 |
| 1999 | 2,297 | #161 | 1.2 |
| 1998 | 2,158 | #159 | 1.1 |
| 1997 | 1,698 | #194 | 0.90 |
| 1996 | 1,489 | #208 | 0.79 |
| 1995 | 1,565 | #195 | 0.82 |
| 1994 | 1,624 | #191 | 0.84 |
| 1993 | 1,888 | #169 | 1.0 |
| 1992 | 1,877 | #170 | 0.94 |
| 1991 | 1,829 | #175 | 0.91 |
| 1990 | 1,791 | #171 | 0.87 |
| 1989 | 1,606 | #185 | 0.80 |
| 1988 | 1,386 | #197 | 0.72 |
| 1987 | 1,452 | #188 | 0.78 |
| 1986 | 923 | #243 | 0.50 |
| 1985 | 762 | #274 | 0.41 |
| 1984 | 632 | #308 | 0.35 |
| 1983 | 531 | #343 | 0.30 |
| 1982 | 462 | #375 | 0.25 |
| 1981 | 501 | #351 | 0.28 |
| 1980 | 486 | #362 | 0.27 |
| 1979 | 457 | #375 | 0.27 |
| 1978 | 414 | #383 | 0.25 |
| 1977 | 403 | #392 | 0.25 |
| 1976 | 410 | #381 | 0.26 |
| 1975 | 415 | #382 | 0.27 |
| 1974 | 413 | #381 | 0.26 |
| 1973 | 434 | #368 | 0.28 |
| 1972 | 390 | #396 | 0.24 |
| 1971 | 409 | #402 | 0.23 |
| 1970 | 486 | #370 | 0.26 |
| 1969 | 375 | #410 | 0.21 |
| 1968 | 414 | #382 | 0.24 |
| 1967 | 395 | #378 | 0.23 |
| 1966 | 448 | #355 | 0.25 |
| 1965 | 422 | #377 | 0.23 |
| 1964 | 525 | #343 | 0.26 |
| 1963 | 549 | #335 | 0.27 |
| 1962 | 573 | #329 | 0.28 |
| 1961 | 653 | #304 | 0.31 |
| 1960 | 669 | #297 | 0.31 |
| 1959 | 691 | #299 | 0.32 |
| 1958 | 736 | #283 | 0.35 |
| 1957 | 740 | #279 | 0.34 |
| 1956 | 748 | #265 | 0.35 |
| 1955 | 724 | #256 | 0.35 |
| 1954 | 743 | #260 | 0.36 |
| 1953 | 725 | #258 | 0.37 |
| 1952 | 763 | #244 | 0.39 |
| 1951 | 805 | #238 | 0.43 |
| 1950 | 755 | #240 | 0.42 |
| 1949 | 761 | #235 | 0.43 |
| 1948 | 743 | #236 | 0.42 |
| 1947 | 869 | #218 | 0.47 |
| 1946 | 841 | #204 | 0.52 |
| 1945 | 803 | #189 | 0.60 |
| 1944 | 780 | #194 | 0.57 |
| 1943 | 875 | #186 | 0.61 |
| 1942 | 971 | #170 | 0.70 |
| 1941 | 931 | #169 | 0.76 |
| 1940 | 952 | #165 | 0.82 |
| 1939 | 979 | #162 | 0.88 |
| 1938 | 1,164 | #140 | 1.0 |
| 1937 | 1,106 | #141 | 1.0 |
| 1936 | 1,248 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1935 | 1,283 | #128 | 1.2 |
| 1934 | 1,335 | #126 | 1.3 |
| 1933 | 1,124 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1932 | 1,154 | #143 | 1.1 |
| 1931 | 1,183 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1930 | 1,181 | #143 | 1.1 |
| 1929 | 1,336 | #128 | 1.2 |
| 1928 | 1,405 | #125 | 1.3 |
| 1927 | 1,227 | #142 | 1.1 |
| 1926 | 1,254 | #137 | 1.1 |
| 1925 | 1,385 | #128 | 1.2 |
| 1924 | 1,397 | #126 | 1.2 |
| 1923 | 1,440 | #122 | 1.3 |
| 1922 | 1,518 | #117 | 1.4 |
| 1921 | 1,558 | #112 | 1.4 |
| 1920 | 1,561 | #112 | 1.5 |
| 1919 | 1,458 | #110 | 1.5 |
| 1918 | 1,536 | #106 | 1.5 |
| 1917 | 1,511 | #104 | 1.6 |
| 1916 | 1,493 | #105 | 1.7 |
| 1915 | 1,434 | #102 | 1.7 |
| 1914 | 1,159 | #99 | 1.8 |
| 1913 | 897 | #101 | 1.8 |
| 1912 | 734 | #101 | 1.7 |
| 1911 | 360 | #106 | 1.6 |
| 1910 | 277 | #115 | 1.4 |
| 1909 | 228 | #122 | 1.4 |
| 1908 | 218 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1907 | 197 | #122 | 1.3 |
| 1906 | 156 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1905 | 140 | #149 | 1.1 |
| 1904 | 134 | #145 | 1.0 |
| 1903 | 110 | #161 | 0.92 |
| 1902 | 133 | #142 | 1.1 |
| 1901 | 110 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1900 | 141 | #149 | 0.94 |
| 1899 | 127 | #126 | 1.2 |
| 1898 | 132 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1897 | 122 | #133 | 1.1 |
| 1896 | 145 | #120 | 1.2 |
| 1895 | 95 | #165 | 0.81 |
| 1894 | 99 | #156 | 0.86 |
| 1893 | 107 | #141 | 1.0 |
| 1892 | 95 | #167 | 0.78 |
| 1891 | 91 | #145 | 0.90 |
| 1890 | 99 | #144 | 0.89 |
| 1889 | 83 | #163 | 0.75 |
| 1888 | 118 | #132 | 1.0 |
| 1887 | 73 | #174 | 0.72 |
| 1886 | 73 | #184 | 0.66 |
| 1885 | 71 | #185 | 0.66 |
| 1884 | 80 | #177 | 0.70 |
| 1883 | 75 | #163 | 0.72 |
| 1882 | 74 | #182 | 0.65 |
| 1881 | 66 | #177 | 0.66 |
| 1880 | 52 | #230 | 0.47 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Max a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Max has been given almost only to boys: 1,119 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Max: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Max, and how old are they?
119,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 71% of the 168,577 Americans ever recorded as Max. The median Max alive today is 20 years old; half are between 12 and 34.
The 2020 Census counted 133,914 people named Max (991 women and girls, 132,923 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 110,964 born in the U.S. The Census count is 21% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 3,440 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 8,880 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 5,990 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 19,500 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 44,500 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 36,600 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Max born?
The states with the most babies named Max are California, New York and Texas, with 30% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 306 | #134 | 1.1× |
| New York | 161 | #118 | 1.2× |
| Texas | 148 | #269 | 0.8× |
| Florida | 136 | #158 | 0.8× |
| New Jersey | 98 | #102 | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 87 | #136 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 83 | #158 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 58 | #214 | 0.8× |
| Washington | 56 | #150 | 1.1× |
| Massachusetts | 55 | #128 | 1.0× |
Where Max is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Max is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 2.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Max with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 172,766 babies since 1880, Max is the most given (98% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,066 of their 2,164 babies (95%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Max
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Max and names like it
- Compare Max and MaxxBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sMax peaked in 2009.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Max since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Max: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2009The year the most babies were named Max.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Max alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with MMost given first.