Head to head · Boys' names
Abraham vs Maddox
#209 vs #209 in 2025
Abraham and Maddox share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#209). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Abraham leads 3 measures of 6; Maddox leads 0.
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: Abraham #172, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1890s: Abraham #177, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1900s: Abraham #174, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1910s: Abraham #153, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1920s: Abraham #250, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1930s: Abraham #353, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1940s: Abraham #419, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1950s: Abraham #430, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1960s: Abraham #475, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1970s: Abraham #349, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1980s: Abraham #258, Maddox — — Abraham higher
- 1990s: Abraham #232, Maddox #5310 — Abraham higher
- 2000s: Abraham #193, Maddox #1166 — Abraham higher
- 2010s: Abraham #179, Maddox #157 — Maddox higher
- 2020s: Abraham #206, Maddox #191 — Maddox higher
Abraham stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Maddox has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Abraham | Maddox |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #172 | — |
| 1890s | #177 | — |
| 1900s | #174 | — |
| 1910s | #153 | — |
| 1920s | #250 | — |
| 1930s | #353 | — |
| 1940s | #419 | — |
| 1950s | #430 | — |
| 1960s | #475 | — |
| 1970s | #349 | — |
| 1980s | #258 | — |
| 1990s | #232 | #5310 |
| 2000s | #193 | #1166 |
| 2010s | #179 | #157 |
| 2020s | #206 | #191 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Abraham
father of a multitude
The gloss comes from Genesis itself, where Abram — 'exalted father' — is renamed Abraham and told he will be the father of many nations. Linguists read that passage as a Hebrew wordplay rather than a strict etymology, but it is the reading the name has carried everywhere it has gone.
Avraham → Abraam → Abraham → Ibrahim
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew, and its earliest home is the book of Genesis, where the patriarch is called first Abram and then Abraham. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Abraam, Latin made it Abraham, and from the Latin it entered nearly every European language; Arabic took its own path to Ibrahim, the form used across the Muslim world.
Maddox
Son of Madog — Madog from the Welsh 'mad', fortunate or good
Madog joins the Welsh element 'mad' (fortunate, benevolent) with the suffix -og. The surname form comes from 'ap Madog', son of Madog, which English flattened into Maddocks and Maddox.
Madog → Madoc → ap Madog → Maddocks → Maddox
How it traveled
The root is the medieval Welsh personal name Madog, borne by princes of Powys and Gwynedd — Madog ap Maredudd, who ruled Powys in the twelfth century, is the best documented of them. Welsh naming worked by patronymic, so a man could be known as ap Madog, son of Madog, and when fixed surnames took hold along the English border those phrases hardened into Maddocks, Maddock and Maddox.
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
Abraham
AY-bruh-ham
That is the usual English reading. In Spanish-speaking households it is ah-brah-AHM, with the stress at the end — worth deciding which one your family will use, since both are correct.
- Abe — The standard English short form, long established and still the one most people reach for.
- Bram — Clipped from the end rather than the front; common in the Netherlands, where it also stands alone as a full given name.
- Avi — Used in Hebrew-speaking and Jewish families, and given independently as a name of its own.
- Abram — The older biblical form, used both as a nickname and as a separate registered given name in the US.
- Also Abie.
Maddox
MAD-ux
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the x sounded as a clean 'ks'. English speakers get it right on sight; the older Welsh Madog is said MAD-og, with a hard g.
- Max — The most portable short form; also a full given name in its own right, so it works on a résumé as easily as on a playground.
- Maddy — Informal and family-side; also widely used for girls named Madeline or Madison, so it rarely travels alone.
- Dox — Informal, mostly a friends-and-teammates shortening.
- Mad — Heard among siblings and close friends; the bare form invites the obvious wordplay.
Who has carried each name
Abraham
Abraham Lincoln (b. 1809) — The president who saved the Union and ended slavery
Abraham Maslow (b. 1909) — Psychologist of the famous hierarchy of needs
Maddox
No documented entry for Maddox yet.
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 Abraham if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAbraham runs 3 syllables, Maddox 2
- a long American recordAbraham was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Maddox if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMaddox is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesMaddox is 2 syllables to Abraham's 3
- a newer arrivalMaddox entered the US charts in 1995
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
Abraham
Strengths
- Recognized in three major religious traditions and dozens of languages, so it needs no explaining almost anywhere in the world.
- Several established short forms already in real use — Abe, Bram, Avi — none of which you have to invent.
- One spelling, known to everyone who reads English; it survives being said over the phone.
To consider
- In the United States the name arrives with Lincoln attached. That is honorable company, but it is loud company, and some people will make the joke about stovepipe hats.
- The full form is formal and three syllables long; in practice many Abrahams are called Abe from the first week, so make sure you like the short form too.
- Its cousins Ibrahim and Avraham are close enough that people from other language backgrounds may reach for those instead — usually a pleasure, occasionally a correction you will make often.
Maddox
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for English speakers — almost no one has to ask twice how to say it.
- Comes with Max ready-made as a short form, a name that stands perfectly well on its own.
- A documented Welsh line behind it, running from the medieval personal name Madog through the surnames Maddock and Maddocks.
To consider
- The variants Maddix, Maddax and Madox all exist, so expect an occasional 'how do you spell it' even though the sound is obvious.
- Its rise as a first name is genuinely recent, which means a Maddox in his fifties is a rare thing. It reads as a name of one particular generation, and that may or may not matter to you.
- Shortened all the way down, it becomes 'Mad' — a small opening for teasing that most boys close quickly by preferring Max.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Abraham
25%chance Abraham feels dated by 2040
Abraham peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
Maddox
40%chance Maddox feels dated by 2040
Maddox sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Abraham and Maddox 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 Abraham and Maddox?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- The steadiest names in America
- Three-syllable names with room to move
- Seven-letter names, ranked by real use
- Names with only one spelling
- all guides
Where Abraham and Maddox each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Abraham or Maddox — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Abraham or Maddox?
- They tie in 2025: Abraham ranked #209 with 1,664 babies; Maddox ranked #209 with 1,664 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Abraham or Maddox?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Abraham moved down 8 places; Maddox moved down 39 places.
- Which is the older name, Abraham or Maddox?
- Abraham was already in use when US records began in 1880; Maddox entered the US charts in 1995. On the American record, Abraham is the older name.
- How many people are named Abraham and Maddox?
- About 84,000 people named Abraham are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 46,500 people named Maddox are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Abrahams or Maddoxs in the classroom?
- Abraham will almost certainly be the only one in school. Maddox will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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