The story in the numbers

165,413 boys have been named Max in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2009, with 3,958 births — 0.20% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 112 → 175).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1994, and the 2010s alone account for 21%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 3 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,078 girls have also been given it, 0.65% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Max

765

1,112

1,567

10,859

14,081

11,757

8,526

7,430

5,023

4,233

8,742

18,214

27,368

34,133

11,603

In 2009, its biggest year

Max was the 104th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2009 were Jacob, Ethan, Michael, Alexander and William. See all of 2009.

Names that rose and fell with Max

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.