nametree
← Madisenbrowse · build a nametreeMadisyn →

Madison

girl name
Origin
English
Syllables
3
Peak era
2000s
Today
▼ Cooling

Torn between Madison and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

a surname read as "son of Maud" or "son of Matthew"; presidential in weight, it was almost never a girls' first name until the 1980s, when it caught on and rewrote the map for surname names. Maddie is the inevitable, cheerful short form

Goes by Maddie. See all nicknames

The story

Madison began as an English surname, read in the old records as son of Maud or son of Matthew, and for two centuries its weight was presidential: James Madison, father of the Constitution. As a girls' first name it essentially did not exist before the 1980s. Then came the mermaid. In the 1984 film Splash, Daryl Hannah's character picks her name off a Madison Avenue street sign, and Tom Hanks's character protests that Madison is not a name. America decided otherwise. The name entered the charts within that decade, surged through the 1990s, and peaked in the 2000s near the very top of the girls' list. We cannot prove the movie did it, but the timing is hard to ignore. It has eased since, settling into familiar, well-liked territory, having rewritten the map for surname names, with cheerful Maddie always close at hand.

More names with stories →

How popular is Madison around the world?

In the United States, 32,602 babies were named Madison between 2020 and 2025.

Madison is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, Scotland, Mexico City, Ireland, England and Wales, Chile, France, Montevideo, Austria, Brazil and Spain.

Madison crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record and of a Spanish-speaking one. The full list: English and Spanish

United States

1 in 670

In the United States, 32,602 babies were named Madison between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 2000s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Madison peaked in the 2000s. Madison went to 10,182 US babies in 2015 and 4,963 in 2025, 49% of the earlier figure.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

South Australia

1 in 680 · 2017

In South Australia, 27 girls were registered as Madison in 2017.

1980peak 2008

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

Canada

1 in 990

In Canada, 369 girls named Madison were born in 2024, the 61st most common name among girls that year.

1991peak 20012024

share of that year’s name registrations

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)

See the full list for Canada →

New Zealand

1 in 1,200

In New Zealand, 50 girls named Madison were registered in 2025.

1990peak 20072025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

See the full list for New Zealand →

Argentina

1 in 1,400

In Argentina, 478 newborns were given the name Madison in 2024.

2012peak 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

See the full list for Argentina →

Scotland

1 in 1,400

In Scotland, 33 girls named Madison were registered in 2024, the 135th most common name among girls that year.

1974peak 20062024

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

See the full list for Scotland →

Mexico City City

1 in 1,500

In Mexico City, there were 81 registrations of Madison in 2022.

2000peak 2022

share of that year’s registrations in the city

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

See the full list for Mexico City →

Ireland

1 in 1,700

In Ireland, 31 girls named Madison were born in 2025, the 148th most common name among girls that year.

1990peak 20142025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

See the full list for Ireland →

England and Wales

1 in 2,100

In England and Wales, 280 girls named Madison were born in 2025, the 175th most common name among girls that year.

1996peak 20052025

share of that year’s name registrations

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

See the full list for England and Wales →

Chile

1 in 4,600

In Chile, 39 girls were registered as Madison in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.

1980peak 2021

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

See the full list for Chile →

France

1 in 21,000

In France, about 30 girls named Madison were born in 2025, ranked 1,136th among girls that year.

1980peak 19972025

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

See the full list for France →

Montevideo City

1 in 25,000 · 2011

In Montevideo, 1 girl named Madison was born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 3 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

See the full list for Montevideo →

Austria

1 in 25,000

In Austria, 3 girls named Madison were born in 2025, ranked 1,026th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.

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)

See the full list for Austria →

Brazil

1 in 250,000

At the 2022 census, 741 people in Brazil were named Madison, ranked 10,195th, with a median age of 25.
Among people named Madison living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.

1960speak 1990s2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 38 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. 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

See the full list for Brazil →

Spain

1 in 290,000

In Spain, 154 residents are named Madison, ranked 5,462nd among women, with a mean age of 9.5 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

See the full list for Spain →

New South Wales

outside the top 100

Madison is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.

1990peak 20012025

share of that year’s top-100 registrations

New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names

See the full list for New South Wales →

Poland

last on record 2021

Madison 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)

See the full list for Poland →

Puerto Rico

last on record 2024

Madison is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 20 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.

First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)

See the full list for Puerto Rico →

Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Madison

Most people given the name Madison in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Madison

Hailey Brooklyn Harper Piper Kinsley Tatum

Keep exploring

Names like Madison · Names that go with Madison · Nicknames for Madison · Climbers and fallers

Name trails: explore connections from Madison →

The Madison deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Madison 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 Madison fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

Does Madison fit YOUR family?

nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.

Add Madison to your family’s tree →
BROWSEAll traditions👶 Baby namesAround the worldAll names🔍 Search a nameName storiesThree-letter namesShort namesVintage revivalsGender-neutralPolishJapaneseCantoneseIrishKoreanIndianMexican American
🌐English ✓EspañolPortuguês
nametree on your phoneDownload on the App StoreGet it on Google Play