Maxymilian

Maksymilian traces back to Latin, to maximus, meaning greatest. The Polish spelling most families use is maksymilian, and the short form maks does most of the daily work, on class registers and football rosters alike. The full name means największy, the greatest.

The form itself was assembled rather than inherited. Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire is said to have joined Maximus and Aemilianus for his own son, and the blend spread across Europe from there. Poland took it in and softened its edges.

For Polish speakers one bearer stands above the rest. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe, the friar who died at Auschwitz in place of a stranger, was canonized in 1982. His feast falls on 14 August, and that date fixes the imieniny for every Maks in the country.

A girl might carry maksymilianna. A boy signs the urząd form as Maksymilian and answers to Maks. The meaning stays the same underneath: greatest, największy.