Fun Facts About the Name Maverick
- A newer favorite: Maverick first entered the U.S. top 100 in 2017 and stayed there through 2025 - a run of 9 consecutive years.
- More than 71 thousand babies named Maverick: U.S. records list 71,330 babies given the name Maverick from 1880 through 2025. Even 771 girls received the name Maverick - about 1 girl for every 92 boys.
What Does the Name Maverick Mean?
Maverick is an English-language given name taken from the surname and the common noun maverick. The word's literal sense is an unbranded calf or other range animal, and from that it came to mean a person who does not follow the group - an independent, nonconforming individual. The given name carries this word meaning rather than a classical, biblical, or saint's meaning.
The surname behind the word is English. Its deeper derivation is not settled. A frequently repeated suggestion connects it to the Welsh personal name Maredudd, the source of Meredith, but a resemblance between two names is not proof of a shared origin, and no firm link has been established. Other treatments simply label the surname English with an uncertain root.
Maverick Name History & Origins
The word maverick comes from Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803 - 1870), a South Carolina-born lawyer who settled in Texas and worked there as a rancher and politician. He left his cattle unbranded, and neighbors and cowhands began applying his name to any unbranded animal, especially a calf separated from its mother. The usage spread through the open-range cattle trade of the mid-19th century, where a maverick was a stray or unmarked animal, and a figurative sense for an independent-minded person followed.
An earlier Samuel Maverick (about 1602 - about 1670), a colonist in Massachusetts, is an early American bearer of the surname, but the word and the given name come from the Texas rancher, not from him.
As a given name, Maverick is a modern American use of the surname and word. It appears as the name of the title character in the television Western Maverick (1957), Bret Maverick, played by James Garner, and as the call sign of the lead character in the 1986 film Top Gun. In the United States it is now used as a given name, most often for boys.
How Popular is the Name Maverick?
Maverick recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2022. Maverick entered the top 100 U.S. boy names in 2017.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,847 | 60 | 0.0037% |
| 2024 | #2,223 | 85 | 0.0053% |
| 2023 | #2,170 | 88 | 0.0055% |
| 2022 | #2,001 | 98 | 0.0060% |
| 2021 | #1,987 | 98 | 0.0060% |
| 2020 | #2,615 | 65 | 0.0040% |
| 2019 | #2,702 | 64 | 0.0038% |
| 2018 | #2,801 | 61 | 0.0036% |
| 2017 | #3,966 | 38 | 0.0022% |
| 2016 | #5,086 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 2015 | #5,774 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 2014 | #6,357 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2013 | #8,424 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2012 | #9,515 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2011 | #14,305 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2007 | #16,854 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2006 | #19,046 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #49 | 5,894 | 0.3451% |
| 2024 | #36 | 6,615 | 0.3856% |
| 2023 | #37 | 6,979 | 0.4085% |
| 2022 | #40 | 7,047 | 0.4040% |
| 2021 | #47 | 6,605 | 0.3778% |
| 2020 | #50 | 6,137 | 0.3558% |
| 2019 | #58 | 5,763 | 0.3214% |
| 2018 | #73 | 5,040 | 0.2776% |
| 2017 | #84 | 4,731 | 0.2557% |
| 2016 | #139 | 2,961 | 0.1561% |
| 2015 | #184 | 2,277 | 0.1188% |
| 2014 | #206 | 1,879 | 0.0978% |
| 2013 | #270 | 1,304 | 0.0689% |
| 2012 | #357 | 857 | 0.0452% |
| 2011 | #427 | 639 | 0.0336% |
| 2010 | #507 | 509 | 0.0265% |
| 2009 | #547 | 484 | 0.0244% |
| 2008 | #509 | 534 | 0.0262% |
| 2007 | #566 | 455 | 0.0219% |
| 2006 | #606 | 395 | 0.0192% |
| 2005 | #653 | 331 | 0.0166% |
| 2004 | #768 | 236 | 0.0119% |
| 2003 | #732 | 249 | 0.0126% |
| 2002 | #800 | 216 | 0.0111% |
| 2001 | #754 | 229 | 0.0118% |
| 2000 | #864 | 184 | 0.0094% |
| 1999 | #812 | 188 | 0.0098% |
| 1998 | #804 | 191 | 0.0100% |
| 1997 | #785 | 189 | 0.0100% |
| 1996 | #843 | 167 | 0.0088% |
| 1995 | #910 | 148 | 0.0078% |
| 1994 | #978 | 128 | 0.0066% |
| 1993 | #1,124 | 101 | 0.0051% |
| 1992 | #1,298 | 76 | 0.0038% |
| 1991 | #1,185 | 88 | 0.0044% |
| 1990 | #1,282 | 75 | 0.0037% |
| 1989 | #1,531 | 54 | 0.0027% |
| 1988 | #1,542 | 48 | 0.0025% |
| 1987 | #1,602 | 44 | 0.0024% |
| 1986 | #2,748 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1985 | #3,036 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1984 | #6,068 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #3,358 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1982 | #3,229 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1981 | #3,766 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1980 | #3,195 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1979 | #5,176 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1978 | #3,536 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1977 | #5,590 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1976 | #3,904 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1975 | #3,834 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1974 | #4,061 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1973 | #3,359 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1971 | #3,842 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1970 | #3,437 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1969 | #3,489 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1968 | #3,275 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1967 | #3,828 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1966 | #2,730 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1965 | #2,570 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1964 | #2,778 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1963 | #2,269 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1962 | #1,790 | 21 | 0.0010% |
| 1961 | #1,592 | 26 | 0.0012% |
| 1960 | #1,159 | 46 | 0.0022% |
| 1959 | #990 | 61 | 0.0029% |
| 1958 | #801 | 88 | 0.0041% |
| 1957 | #1,379 | 33 | 0.0015% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
Explore Name Lists Featuring Maverick
Carl appears in several baby name collections based on U.S. popularity records, naming trends, and name characteristics. Explore these lists to discover other names with similar histories, styles, or features.
Recent Favorite Boy Names
Explore More Lists with Name Maverick
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with M
How the Name Maverick Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have psychic power. You can carry on for others with joy. You have a receptive nature and may bear burdens for others. You are pragmatic, thorough, strong-willed, practical and stubborn at times. You are hard working, often martyr to duty. You like home and security above all. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Maverick's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Maverick's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.