Max (given name)

Max is a given name. In the masculine, it is often short for Maximilian, Maxim, Maxwell, Maxfield, or Maximus in English; Maximos in Greek; or Maxime or Maxence in French. In the feminine it usually stands for Maxine.

Almost all Max names derive from the Latin Maximus, in circulation since the Classical Era and used in Ancient Rome as a cognomen. This was the third name in the three-part system known as the tria nomina. The cognomen began as a nickname and would have been given to men of the patrician class who demonstrated traits of greatness. The name Maximus was introduced to the Celtic Britons during the 1st century Roman occupation. Maximus the Confessor was a 7th-century monk and theologian from Constantinople.

Notable people and characters with the name include:

People

 * Max Abmas (born 2001), American basketball player
 * Max Adler (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Max Baer (boxer) (1909–1959), American world heavyweight boxing champion
 * Max Baer Jr. (born 1937), American, son of the boxer, actor on TV's The Beverly Hillbillies
 * Max Baer (judge) (1947–2022), Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice
 * Max Barskih (born 1990), Ukrainian singer and songwriter
 * Baron Max Wladimir von Beck (1854–1943), Austrian politician
 * Max Beckmann (1884–1950), German artist
 * Max Bill (1908–1994), Swiss architect, artist, painter, industrial designer and graphic designer
 * Max Birbraer (born 1980), Kazakhstan-born Israeli professional ice hockey forward
 * Max Blumenthal (born 1977), American journalist
 * Max Borghi (born 2000), American football player
 * Max Born (1882–1970), German physicist, mathematician and Nobel laureate
 * Max Bredeson (born 2002), American football player
 * Max Brown (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Max Bruch (1838–1920), German composer and conductor
 * Max Burkholder (born 1997), American child actor
 * Max Chandler-Mather (born 1992), Australian politician
 * Max Cleland (1942–2021), Secretary of State of Georgia and Vietnam veteran
 * Max Colby (born 1980), American artist
 * Max Collins (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Max Cooper (electronica musician), European electronica and techno musician
 * Max Dale Cooper (born 1933), American immunologist
 * Max Delbrück (1906–1981), German–American biophysicist
 * Max Delbrück (chemist) (1850–1919), German agricultural chemist, uncle of the above
 * Max Domi (born 1995), Canadian ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League
 * Max Duggan (born 2001), American football player
 * Max Ernst (1891–1976), German painter, sculptor, graphic artist and poet
 * Max Evans (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Max Fink (born 1923), American neurologist and psychiatrist
 * Max Fleischer (1883–1972), Polish-American animator and film producer
 * Max Fried (born 1994), American baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves
 * Max Jakob Friedländer (1867–1958), German curator and art historian
 * Marty Friedman (basketball) (1889–1986), Hall of Fame NBA pro basketball player and coach
 * Max Gandrup (born 1967), Danish badminton player
 * Max Geldray (1916–2004), Dutch-born British harmonica player
 * Max Geller (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Max Giesinger (born 1988), German singer-songwriter
 * Max Glatt (1912–2002), German-British addiction treatment expert
 * Max Green (musician) (born 1984), American musician
 * Max Green (lawyer) (1952–1998), Australian lawyer, embezzler and murder victim
 * Max Greyserman (born 1995), professional golfer on the PGA Tour
 * Max Harris (composer) (1918–2004), British film and television composer/arranger
 * Max Hastings (born 1945), British journalist, editor, historian and author
 * Max Hecker (1879–1964), Austrian-born Israeli President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
 * Max Heidegger (born 1997), American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
 * Max Homa (born 1990), American golfer
 * Max Huber (Canadian football) (1945–2018), American football player in the Canadian Football League
 * Max Huber (graphic designer) (1919–1992), Swiss graphic designer
 * Max Huber (statesman) (1874–1960), Swiss lawyer and diplomat
 * Max Hussarek von Heinlein (1865–1935), Austrian politician, Prime Minister of Austria in 1918
 * Max Jammer (1915–2010), Israeli physicist and Rector and Acting President of Bar-Ilan University
 * Max Johnson (born 2001), American football player
 * Max Karoubi (born 1938), French mathematician
 * Max Kelly (1930–2007), Australian mathematician
 * Max Kelly (footballer) (1909–1987), Australian rules footballer
 * Max Keith (1903-?), German businessman
 * Max King (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Max Klesmit (born 2002), American basketball player
 * Max Koegel (1895–1946), German Nazi commander of several concentration camps
 * Max Konnor (born 1986 or 1987), American gay pornographic film actor
 * Max Kouguère (born 1987), Central African basketball player
 * Max Labovitch (1924–2018), Canadian National Hockey League player
 * Max Landa (1873–1933), Russian-born Austrian actor
 * Max Liebermann (1847–1935), German painter
 * Max Lorenz (tenor) (1901–1975), German heldentenor famous for Wagnerian roles
 * Max Marcuse (1877–1963), Jewish-German/Israeli dermatologist and sexologist
 * Max Margulis (1907–1996), American writer, voice coach, and left-wing activist
 * Max Friedrich Meyer (1873–1967), German-born American psychologist
 * Max Mathiasin (born 1956), French politician
 * Max Melton (born 2002), American football player
 * Max Meyer (footballer) (born 1995), German footballer
 * Max Meyer-Olbersleben (1850–1927), German composer and pianist
 * Max Miller (YouTuber) (born 1983), American YouTuber and amateur historian/chef
 * Max Mitchell (born 1999), American football player
 * Maxey Dell Moody (1883–1949), American businessman
 * Max Morinière (born 1964), French sprinter
 * Max Muncy (born 1990), American Major League Baseball player
 * Max Müller (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Max Park (born 2001), American Rubik's Cube speedsolver
 * Max Pauly (1907–1946), German SS concentration camp commandant executed for war crimes
 * Max Pechstein (1881–1955), German painter
 * Lord Max Percy (born 1990), British financial analyst
 * Max Planck (1858–1947), German theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate
 * Max Purcell (born 1998), Australian tennis player
 * Max Reger (1873–1916), German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher
 * Max Reinhardt (1873–1943), Austrian-born American theatre and film director, intendant and theatrical producer
 * Max Reinhardt (publisher) (1915–2002), British publisher
 * Max Reis (1927–2014), chemical engineer and President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
 * Max Rheinstein (1899–1977), German-American jurist
 * Max Roach (1924–2007), American jazz drummer
 * Max Rose (born 1986), American soldier and politician
 * Max Rudolf (conductor) (1902–1995), German conductor
 * Max Saalmüller (1832–1890), Prussian lieutenant colonel and German entomologist
 * Max Schäfer (1907–1990), German football player and manager
 * Max Schäfer (soldier) (1907–1987), German World War II officer
 * Max Scharping (born 1996), American National Football League player
 * Max Scheler (1874–1928), German philosopher
 * Max Scherzer (born 1984), American baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers
 * Max Scheuer, Austrian 1920s footballer
 * Max Schmeling (1905–2005), German boxer
 * Max Schneider (born 1992), American pop singer-songwriter
 * Max Sefrin (1913–2000), East German politician
 * Max Seibald (born 1987), American lacrosse player
 * Max Seydewitz (1892–1987), German politician
 * Max Steinberg (soldier) (1989–2014), American-Israeli IDF lone soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza War
 * Max Steiner (1888–1971), Austrian-American composer and conductor
 * Max Stirner (1806–1856), German philosopher
 * Max Streibl (1932–1998), German politician
 * Max Tooley (born 1998), American football player
 * Max Ugrai (born 1995), German basketball player
 * Max van Rysselberghe (1878–1961), Belgian engineer and Antarctic explorer
 * Max Verstappen (born 1997), Belgian-Dutch racing driver
 * Max von Sydow (1929–2020), Swedish-French actor
 * Max Weber (1864–1920), German political economist and sociologist
 * Max Wise (born 1975), American former FBI agent, serving as a member of the Kentucky Senate
 * Max Wyndham, 2nd Baron Egremont (born 1948), generally known as Max Egremont, British biographer and novelist
 * Max Zaslofsky (1925–1985), American National Basketball Association player and American Basketball Association coach

Fictional characters

 * Max, a character in the 1993 action/martial arts film Showdown
 * Max, in the Fox TV series 24
 * Max, in the Advance Wars video games
 * Max, from the 2005 film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D
 * Max, in the Bomberman series of computer and video games
 * Max, a Camp Campbell camper and a protagonist in the animated TV series Camp Camp
 * Max, Darla Dimple's assistant in the 1997 animated film Cats Don't Dance
 * Max, in the PBS animated TV series Dragon Tales
 * Max, in the Swedish Den Max children's books
 * Max, the robotic spaceship in the 1986 sci-fi adventure film Flight of the Navigator
 * Max, in the 1980s TV series Hart to Hart
 * Max, the Grinch's dog from the Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and its adaptations in other media
 * Max the Minifigure, the mascot of the Lego Club Magazine and The Lego Group
 * Uncle Max, a meerkat character in the 2004 animated film The Lion King 1½
 * Max (Comet Man), an alien character featured in Marvel Comics
 * Max, an anthropomorphic rabbit character in the Nick Jr. animated preschool TV series Max & Ruby
 * Max, in the animated series Mighty Max
 * Max, from the 1979 film The Muppet Movie
 * Max, a main character in the film Once Upon A Time In America
 * Max, the head vampire in the film The Lost Boys
 * Max, a character in the Pokémon anime series
 * Max, a character from Brawl Stars
 * Max, in the Sam & Max franchise
 * Max, in the 2016 3D computer-animated film The Secret Life of Pets
 * Max, the boy in Christopher Nolan's Tenet
 * Max, a dump truck in the British animated children's TV series Thomas & Friends
 * Max, in the Canadian animated TV series Total Drama: Pahkitew Island
 * Max, the boy from the Maurice Sendak book Where the Wild Things Are and its adaptations in other media
 * Max, in the 1968 animated musical film Yellow Submarine
 * Max, the namesake owner and waiter of The Max from Saved by the Bell
 * Max Black, from the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls
 * Max Blum, from the TV sitcom Happy Endings
 * Max Branning, in the BBC TV series EastEnders
 * Max Brass, a heavyweight champion from Arms
 * Max Cady, the villain in both film versions of Cape Fear (1962 film) and Cape Fear (1991 film)
 * Max Carr, a character in the 1995 family-comedy film Born to Be Wild
 * Max Carreau, the French name of Mike Flood, a character in the 2005 and 2008 versions of Fireman Sam
 * Max Caulfield, the main character in the 2015 video game Life Is Strange
 * Max Cherry, a bail bondsman from the film Jackie Brown, which is based on the novel Rum Punch
 * Max Cooper, on the television series Power Rangers Wild Force
 * Max Demian, in Hermann Hesse novel Demian
 * Max Dennison, in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus
 * Max Dillon, fictional Marvel Comics supervillain otherwise known as Electro; one of Spider-Man's nemeses
 * Max Einstein, the main character of the book Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
 * Max Estrella, the main character of Bohemian Lights, play written by Ramón del Valle-Inclán and published in 1924
 * Max Fischer, main character in Rushmore
 * Max Frost, the lead character in the film Wild in the Streets
 * Max Goof, the son of the Disney character Goofy
 * Max Guevara, the lead character in the TV series Dark Angel
 * Max Headroom, a 1980s TV character
 * Max King, in the TV series Emmerdale
 * Max Klinger, in the 1970s TV series M*A*S*H
 * Maxine "Max" Mayfield, in the Netflix TV series Stranger Things
 * Maximilian "Max" Medici, one of the main characters in the 2019 Dumbo remake
 * Max Mercer, the main character from the Christmas movie Home Sweet Home Alone
 * Max Modell, fictional Marvel Comics character
 * Max Payne (character), the main character in the video game series Max Payne and its film adaptation
 * Max Rebo, a Star Wars character
 * Max Reynolds, the father of Sydney Reynolds and one of the titular characters in the Disney Channel series Sydney to the Max
 * Max Ride, the main character of the Maximum Ride book series by James Patterson
 * Max Rockatansky, the main character in the Mad Max films
 * Max Russo, in the Disney Channel TV series Wizards of Waverly Place
 * Maxwell "Max" Sheffield, in the American sitcom The Nanny
 * Max Smart, in the 1995 version of the TV series Get Smart
 * Max Smith, a character in the Canadian cartoon My Pet Monster
 * Max Steel (a.k.a. Max McGrath in some media), from the Max Steel franchise
 * Max Tate (Max Mizuhara in Japanese version), from the anime/manga series Beyblade
 * Max Tennyson, the grandfather of Ben and Gwen Tennyson from Cartoon Network's Ben 10 franchise
 * Max Thunderman, from the Nickelodeon TV series The Thundermans
 * Max Schnell (also known as Sebastian Schnell in the German dub), in Cars 2. He’s voiced by Sebastian Vettel in the German dub.
 * Max Tyler, in the MTV animated TV sitcom Daria
 * Max von Mayerling, Norma Desmond's butler in the film Sunset Boulevard
 * Max Young, in the animated TV series Fantastic Max
 * Max Zorin, the main antagonist in the James Bond film A View to a Kill