Max
Germanic at root, a short form of Maximilian meaning "greatest". Only about 2,700 Poles carry it, nearly all men, yet it keeps climbing: more boys got it last year than in most years before.
Max Pronunciation
What Max means
Where Max comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Max is a short, hard name with Germanic roots, at home in both German and English. Speakers of both languages have used it for generations. It travels light. The short meaning is blunt: greatest.
In Poland it often arrives on a class register between a Jakub and a Zofia, four letters a five-year-old can already write. A Polish fact anchors the longer form: the feast of Maximilian Kolbe falls on 14 August, and many who carry that name mark their imieniny then. Max keeps the grandeur while shedding the syllables.
A name meaning greatest sets a high bar, though the word wears lightly on a small boy. Germanic by origin, German and English by habit, Max stays what the meaning says: greatest.
How many people are named Max
1 in 7992 men in Poland is named Max. 2,715 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #615 among male names.
Max's popularity over time
72 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #287 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2001.
Where Max is most popular
Max is most popular in Pomeranian, 56% above the national average (52 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Opole (+53%) and West Pomeranian (+51%). It is least common in Podlaskie and Łódź, 66% and 48% below average respectively.
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Pomeranian52 boys born+56%
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Opole16 boys born+53%
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West Pomeranian29 boys born+51%
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Silesian68 boys born+32%
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Lower Silesian43 boys born+21%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian29 boys born+17%
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Lesser Poland57 boys born+11%
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Greater Poland51 boys born+4%
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Masovian73 boys born−9%
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Lubusz10 boys born−11%
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Warmian-Masurian12 boys born−26%
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Lublin15 boys born−36%
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Subcarpathian15 boys born−45%
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Łódź15 boys born−48%
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Podlaskie5 boys born−66%
Max as a middle name
Max is a first name for 2,715 men in Poland and a middle name for another 697, an 80/20 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 273rd, between Eduardo (697) and Jonatan (688).
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271
698Jonasz
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272
697Eduardo
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273697Max
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274
688Jonatan
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275
685Bazyli