Maxwell Montes is named for James Clerk Maxwell whose work in mathematical physics predicted the existence of radio waves, which made radar, and thus the surface observations of Venus, possible.
Os Maxwell Montes reciben o seu nome en honra a James Clerk Maxwell, quen traballou na física matemática predicindo a existencia das ondas de radio, as cales fan posible a existencia do radar, e en consecuencia o radar fixo posible a observación da superficie de Venus.