Máxima
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Meaning
greatest; Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, born in Argentina
The story
Máxima is the feminine of the Latin Maximus, greatest, a superlative worn as a name, and today it belongs overwhelmingly to one person. Máxima Zorreguieta was an economist from Buenos Aires working in New York finance when she met the Dutch crown prince at a fair in Seville; she married Willem-Alexander in 2002 and became Queen Máxima of the Netherlands in 2013, an Argentine on a European throne, admired for her ease with crowds and for years of international work promoting ordinary people's access to banking. The Dutch public warmed to her quickly. In American records the name scarcely existed before the 2000s and has flickered modestly since, timing that sits close beside the royal romance, though we cannot prove the connection. For parents who want a meaning with no modesty about it, Máxima says the greatest, in three warm syllables.
How popular is Máxima around the world?
Máxima does not appear in US Social Security baby-name records, which list only names given to at least five babies in a year. There is no popularity curve to chart: a genuinely rare pick. In Austria, 11 girls named Máxima were born in 2025, the 438th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
Máxima is on the official records of Austria, Montevideo, Argentina, Spain, Chile, England and Wales and Brazil.
United States
under 5 a year
Máxima does not appear in US Social Security baby-name records, which list only names given to at least five babies in a year. There is no popularity curve to chart: a genuinely rare pick.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Austria
1 in 6,900
In Austria, 11 girls named Máxima were born in 2025, the 438th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Montevideo City
1 in 12,0002011
In Montevideo, 2 girls named Máxima were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Argentina
1 in 13,000
In Argentina, 52 newborns were given the name Máxima in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Spain
1 in 22,000
In Spain, 2,020 residents are named Máxima, the 921st most common name among women, with a mean age of 72.1 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Chile
1 in 89,000
In Chile, 2 girls were registered as Máxima in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
England and Wales
1 in 200,000
In England and Wales, 3 girls named Máxima were born in 2025, ranked 5,927th among girls that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Brazil
1 in 250,000
At the 2022 census, 890 people in Brazil were named Máxima, ranked 8,955th, with a median age of 54.
Among people named Máxima living in Brazil at the 2022 census, roughly as many were born in the 1960s as in the 1970s, more than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Canada
last on record 2017
Máxima is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Mexico City City
last on record 2021
Máxima is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (1 registration through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Poland
last on record 2014
Máxima is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Máxima deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Máxima truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Máxima fits with your family’s names and surname.
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