Maxwell

Maxwell meaning

Maxwell is a Christian and international boy's name of Scottish place name origin.

From Maxwell on the Tweed: probably 'the well of Macc or Macca'

Also used to mean: Mack's stream, great stream

Maxwell began as a Scottish surname taken from a place on the River Tweed in the Borders. The Online Etymology Dictionary explains the place name as probably "the well of Macc or Macca", a personal name, joined to well, a spring or pool. The gloss "great stream" on some name lists comes from reading Max- as Latin for "great", which is not its origin. The surname was made famous by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell and became a given name in the English-speaking world. In India it is found in Christian families in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa, often shortened to Max.

Source: Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), s.v. Maxwell · entry Maxwell · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Online Etymology Dictionary, Maxwell

Popularity abroad

• #189 United States, boys 2025 (down 7 from 182 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #183 England and Wales, boys 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Maxwell · Maxwel

Related names

Also meaning water

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