Madonna
Torn between Madonna and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
my lady (Italian title of the Virgin Mary); famously borne by Madonna
The story
Madonna is Italian for my lady, the title given to the Virgin Mary in centuries of prayer and painting, and in the early twentieth century it had a modest life as a devotional choice among American Catholic families. Then one bearer swallowed the name whole. Madonna Louise Ciccone, named for her mother, left Michigan for New York and by the mid-1980s had made Like a Virgin, Vogue, and reinvention itself into pop's ruling grammar; she is often ranked the best-selling female recording artist in history. The name went the other way: her fame never produced a wave of little Madonnas, and the records show it quieter in recent decades than it was earlier, perhaps because the name now belongs so completely to one performer on stage and one figure in church that parents leave it be. Few names hold this much reverence and this much audacity at once.
How popular is Madonna around the world?
In the United States, 33 babies were named Madonna between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Madonna in 2017.
Madonna is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, England and Wales and Brazil.
United States
1 in 660,000
In the United States, 33 babies were named Madonna between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Madonna peaked in the 1930s and the 1950s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Madonna in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
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
England and Wales
1 in 200,000
In England and Wales, 3 girls named Madonna were born in 2025, ranked 5,927th among girls that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Austria
last on record 2019
Madonna is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 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)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 36 people in Brazil were named Madonna, ranked 83,466th, with a median age of 33.
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
Ireland
last on record 1986
Madonna is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Montevideo City
last on record 2010
Madonna is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 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
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Madonna
People given the name Madonna in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1979. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Madonna deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Madonna 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 Madonna fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Madonna fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Madonna to your family’s tree →