Maks
Latin at root, sitting close to Maksymilian and Maximilian, and carrying a fitting sense: "greatest". Still rare enough that most Poles have never met one, though it's climbing back, with more boys given it now than a decade ago.
Maks Pronunciation
Maks is pronounced MAHKS (/maks/).
What Maks means
Where Maks comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Maks begins in Latin. The full name behind it is Maksymilian, drawn from the Roman Maximilianus, which traces back to maximus, "greatest." In Polish that sense is największy. Strip the name down and you reach a single claim of size and rank.
Poland knows the longer form through Maksymilian Maria Kolbe, the Franciscan friar who died at Auschwitz in 1941 after offering his life for a fellow prisoner. Canonized in 1982, he gave the name a significance that has nothing to do with its Roman meaning. Many boys named Maks answer, in the end, to that.
The clipped form suits a class register. Short. It sits between the schoolyard and the certificate at the urząd, where Maksymilian is spelled out in full. The variant Maximillian turns up too, its spelling borrowed from beyond the border.
A name meaning "greatest" sets a high bar for a small boy. Maks wears it lightly, one syllable that still means największy.
How many people are named Maks
1 in 11452 men in Poland is named Maks. 1,877 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #722 among male names.
Maks's popularity over time
106 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #245 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where Maks is most popular
Maks is most popular in Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 73% above the national average (62 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Greater Poland (+24%) and Pomeranian (+20%). It is least common in Lublin and Warmian-Masurian, 50% and 49% below average respectively.
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian62 boys born+73%
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Greater Poland88 boys born+24%
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Pomeranian58 boys born+20%
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Łódź45 boys born+8%
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Lower Silesian55 boys born+7%
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West Pomeranian29 boys born+5%
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Lubusz17 boys born+4%
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Masovian117 boys born+1%
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Silesian75 boys born0%
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Lesser Poland69 boys born−7%
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Subcarpathian32 boys born−19%
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Opole11 boys born−27%
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Podlaskie13 boys born−40%
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Świętokrzyskie10 boys born−45%
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Warmian-Masurian12 boys born−49%
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Lublin17 boys born−50%
Maks as a middle name
Maks is a first name for 1,877 men in Poland and a middle name for another 461, an 80/20 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 328th, between Pawel (463) and Dieter (460).
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#326 Felipe466
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#327 Pawel463
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#328 Maks461
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#329 Dieter460
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#330 Bogusz454