Head to head · Girls' names
Abigail vs Madison
#41 vs #40 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Madison is a whisker ahead (#40 vs #41 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Madison leads 4 measures of 6; Abigail leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Abigail #588, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1890s: Abigail #898, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1900s: Abigail #1049, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1910s: Abigail #1236, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1920s: Abigail #1431, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1930s: Abigail #1231, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1940s: Abigail #1030, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1950s: Abigail #731, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1960s: Abigail #644, Madison — — Abigail higher
- 1970s: Abigail #364, Madison #8101 — Abigail higher
- 1980s: Abigail #144, Madison #1892 — Abigail higher
- 1990s: Abigail #51, Madison #64 — Abigail higher
- 2000s: Abigail #8, Madison #4 — Madison higher
- 2010s: Abigail #8, Madison #13 — Abigail higher
- 2020s: Abigail #26, Madison #35 — Abigail higher
Abigail stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Abigail has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Abigail | Madison |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #588 | — |
| 1890s | #898 | — |
| 1900s | #1049 | — |
| 1910s | #1236 | — |
| 1920s | #1431 | — |
| 1930s | #1231 | — |
| 1940s | #1030 | — |
| 1950s | #731 | — |
| 1960s | #644 | — |
| 1970s | #364 | #8101 |
| 1980s | #144 | #1892 |
| 1990s | #51 | #64 |
| 2000s | #8 | #4 |
| 2010s | #8 | #13 |
| 2020s | #26 | #35 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Abigail
- Canada#25
Madison
- Canada#61
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Abigail
my father is joy
A Hebrew sentence joining the word for father to one meaning joy or exultation. It is one of a set of names built the same way, and the construction is a statement about the family rather than a description of the child.
Avigayil → Abigail
How it traveled
In the spring of seventeen seventy-six, with independence being drafted, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband asking him to remember the ladies in the new code of laws and to be more generous to them than his ancestors had been. She added that all men would be tyrants if they could, and that women would not hold themselves bound by laws in which they had no voice.
Madison
"son of Maud"
The medieval English surname was formed from Madde or Maddy — a pet form of Maud, itself the English shape of Matilda — plus the patronymic "-son". A minority of surname scholars trace some bearers to Magdalene instead, but Maud carries the main line.
Matilda → Maud → Maddy → Madison
How it traveled
The surname was in use in medieval England, one of the many built by attaching "-son" to a mother's or father's familiar name. It reached American maps through James Madison, fourth president of the United States, whose name was given to the Wisconsin capital, to Madison Avenue in New York, and to counties in nearly every state.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Abigail
AB-ih-gayl
Three syllables with the stress at the front. The final syllable keeps a full vowel rather than reducing, which is what allows Gail to come off it as a separate name.
- Abby — The standard familiar form, and now a name in its own right.
- Gail — The back of the name, and a complete name on its own.
- Abi — The front in the shorter spelling, commoner in Britain.
Madison
MAD-ih-sun
Stress on the first syllable. The middle vowel is usually swallowed in ordinary speech, giving something close to MAD-sun. Pronunciation is the same in American, British and Canadian English.
- Maddie — The everyday short form, and a given name in its own right; also serves Madeline, Madelyn and Matilda, so a classroom Maddie could be any of them.
- Maddy — The same nickname with the older spelling — the very form that produced the surname in medieval England.
- Mads — Informal, mostly among friends and siblings. Note that Mads is a standard men's given name in Denmark.
- Madi — A trimmed written form, common in usernames and signatures more than in speech.
Who has carried each name
Abigail
Abigail Adams (b. 1744) — Founding-era First Lady who told her husband to "remember the ladies"
Abigail Breslin (b. 1996) — Oscar-nominated at age 10 for Little Miss Sunshine
Madison
Madison Beer (b. 1999) — Pop singer discovered by Justin Bieber
Madison Keys (b. 1995) — Australian Open champion tennis star
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Abigail if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAbigail is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordAbigail was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Madison if you want…
- a newer arrivalMadison entered the US charts in 1970
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Abigail
Strengths
- Abby and Gail come from opposite ends and sound nothing alike.
- The meaning is a full sentence and is documented all the way back.
- It is understood everywhere in the English-speaking world.
To consider
- It has been very common for two decades, so a classroom will hold others.
- Abigale and Abbigail are both recorded and the spelling will be asked about.
- It is recorded for sons as well, though so rarely that a boy would be explaining it.
Madison
Strengths
- Spelled and said the same way by nearly everyone in the US and Canada; no correction needed at a coffee counter or a roll call.
- Comes with ready-made short forms — Maddie, Maddy, Mads — that are already in wide use rather than invented on the spot.
- Works as both a full formal name and a one-syllable nickname, which gives a child room to choose.
To consider
- The alternative spellings — Maddison, Madisyn, Madyson — are common enough that people will often ask which one you mean.
- Because Maddie is shared with Madeline, Madelyn and Matilda, the nickname is far more crowded than the full name.
- Its rise was steep and recent, so the name sits closely with a particular young-adult generation rather than reading as inherited or old-fashioned.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Abigail and Madison in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Abigail and Madison?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Generation Z names (born 1997–2012)
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- all guides
Every list here names both Abigail and Madison — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Abigail or Madison — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Abigail or Madison?
- Madison, in 2025: Madison ranked #40 with 4,945 babies; Abigail ranked #41 with 4,941 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Abigail or Madison?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Abigail moved down 29 places; Madison moved down 17 places.
- Which is the older name, Abigail or Madison?
- Abigail was already in use when US records began in 1880; Madison entered the US charts in 1970. On the American record, Abigail is the older name.
- How many people are named Abigail and Madison?
- About 407,000 people named Abigail are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 416,000 people named Madison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Abigails or Madisons in the classroom?
- Abigail will almost certainly be the only one in school. Madison will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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