Maxwell

Maxwell: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“Mack's stream”
Origin
Scottish Gaelic
Say it
MAKS-wel · 2 syllables
Used for
Boys

From a Scottish surname taken from a place name meaning 'Maccus's wella/stream.' Though associated with Scotland, the second element is Old English in origin.

How popular is Maxwell?

2024616 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Maxwell in 20242,049

2024 rank#182 boys

Peak year2014

Total US babies since 1880107,524

Maxwell has been fairly stable over the last fifteen years.

Names like Maxwell

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Loganlittle hollow · Scottish Gaelic
  • Cameroncrooked nose · Scottish Gaelic
  • IanGod is gracious · Scottish Gaelic
  • Carsonson of Carr · Scottish Gaelic
  • Callumdove · Scottish Gaelic
  • Dallasmeadow dwelling · Scottish Gaelic
  • Kennethborn of fire · Scottish Gaelic
  • Knoxround hill · Scottish Gaelic

Maxwell questions

What does the name Maxwell mean?

Maxwell means "Mack's stream". It comes from Scottish Gaelic. From a Scottish surname taken from a place name meaning 'Maccus's wella/stream.' Though associated with Scotland, the second element is Old English in origin.

Is Maxwell a boy or girl name?

Maxwell is mainly a boy's name in US records (99% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Maxwell?

2,049 US babies were named Maxwell in 2024. Its peak year was 2014.

How do you pronounce Maxwell?

Maxwell is usually pronounced MAKS-wel.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.