How to say it
MAX · well
/ˈmæks.wɛl/
Masculine
Maxwell
Mac's spring
What it means
Scottish surname, from a place name in the Scottish Borders meaning 'Maccus's well' (Maccus being a Norse personal name). The physicist James Clerk Maxwell and the cartoon character Max (the dog in How the Grinch Stole Christmas) cover very different cultural surfaces.
Maxwell is a Scottish surname from a place name in the Scottish Borders: Maccus's wiel ('Maccus's pool or spring' — Maccus being a Norse-derived personal name). The Maxwell family became a major Scottish clan. James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), the physicist whose equations unified electricity and magnetism, is the deepest cultural anchor. The first-name usage in the US is modern; it surged as the standalone Max (a short for Maxwell, Maximus, Maxim, or Maximilian) became its own popular name. Max is the universal short, often used as a standalone given name.
Popularity over time
peaked at #106 in 1999, currently #189 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Nickname
Max is the universal short and a fully separate given name. Many families give Maxwell formally and Max daily; others give Max directly.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- James Clerk Maxwell Scottish physicist, the Maxwell equations of electromagnetism
- Maxwell Smart Don Adams's bumbling Agent 86 in Get Smart
Spelling variants
- Maxime
- Maximilian
Names with the same feeling
See Maxwell from another angle
By style