Head to head · Girls' names
Alyssa vs Madeleine
#453 vs #454 in 2025
Alyssa is a whisker ahead (#453 vs #454 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alyssa is stepping back from its peak, Madeleine is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Madeleine has the edge.
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, Alyssa leads 4 measures of 6; Madeleine 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: Alyssa —, Madeleine #671 — Madeleine higher
- 1890s: Alyssa —, Madeleine #426 — Madeleine higher
- 1900s: Alyssa —, Madeleine #477 — Madeleine higher
- 1910s: Alyssa —, Madeleine #490 — Madeleine higher
- 1920s: Alyssa —, Madeleine #474 — Madeleine higher
- 1930s: Alyssa —, Madeleine #585 — Madeleine higher
- 1940s: Alyssa —, Madeleine #540 — Madeleine higher
- 1950s: Alyssa #3751, Madeleine #841 — Madeleine higher
- 1960s: Alyssa #914, Madeleine #1295 — Alyssa higher
- 1970s: Alyssa #383, Madeleine #2142 — Alyssa higher
- 1980s: Alyssa #142, Madeleine #1410 — Alyssa higher
- 1990s: Alyssa #23, Madeleine #349 — Alyssa higher
- 2000s: Alyssa #15, Madeleine #307 — Alyssa higher
- 2010s: Alyssa #90, Madeleine #326 — Alyssa higher
- 2020s: Alyssa #318, Madeleine #417 — Alyssa higher
Madeleine stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Alyssa has held the lead since the 1960s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alyssa | Madeleine |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #671 |
| 1890s | — | #426 |
| 1900s | — | #477 |
| 1910s | — | #490 |
| 1920s | — | #474 |
| 1930s | — | #585 |
| 1940s | — | #540 |
| 1950s | #3751 | #841 |
| 1960s | #914 | #1295 |
| 1970s | #383 | #2142 |
| 1980s | #142 | #1410 |
| 1990s | #23 | #349 |
| 2000s | #15 | #307 |
| 2010s | #90 | #326 |
| 2020s | #318 | #417 |
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
Alyssa
Either 'noble' (through Alice) or the flower alyssum, from Greek for 'without madness'
Most reference works treat Alyssa as an English respelling of Alice or Alicia, which descend from Germanic Adalheidis, 'noble kind'. The other serious reading is botanical: the flower name alyssum comes from Greek a- 'not' plus lyssa 'rabies, madness', because the plant was used in antiquity as a remedy for rabies. Both readings are genuinely held, and the spelling with -y- fits either.
Adalheidis → Adelaide → Alice → Alicia → Alyssa
How it traveled
The deep root is Germanic: Adalheidis, built from words for 'noble' and 'kind', which became Adelaide and then, worn smooth in medieval France and England, Alice. Spanish and Latin took the same name as Alicia, and it is from that longer form that the -ssa endings grew in English-speaking countries.
Madeleine
from Magdala — a town on the Sea of Galilee
The place name itself comes from a Semitic root meaning tower; Madeleine names the town, not the tower directly.
Magdala → Magdalēnē → Magdalena → Madeleine → Madeline
How it traveled
The name begins as an epithet rather than a name: Mary of Magdala, distinguished in the Gospels from the other Marys by where she came from. Greek rendered it Magdalēnē, Latin Magdalena, and from Latin the French wore it down to Madeleine, dropping the g and softening the ending.
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
Alyssa
uh-LISS-uh
Stress on the middle syllable. Some families say ah-LISS-uh; both are ordinary and neither needs correcting. The y is pronounced exactly like an i.
- Aly — The most common short form; also spelled Ally or Ali, and used as a standalone given name in its own right.
- Lyssa — Informal, taken from the second half of the name; occasionally registered on its own.
- Lissa — Informal variant of the same clipping, with the simpler spelling.
- Lyss — Very informal, mostly among friends and siblings.
Madeleine
MAD-uh-lin
Also said MAD-uh-line in the US, and mad-LEN in French. All three are in genuine use, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
- Maddie — The everyday short form; also used by girls named Madison, Madelyn and Madeline, so it rarely identifies which name is on the birth certificate.
- Mads — Clipped and informal, common among friends and teammates; in Denmark, Mads is a separate men's given name.
- Lena — Taken from the Magdalena end of the name; stands alone as a given name across Germany, Scandinavia and Poland.
- Magda — Formal-adjacent short form used mainly where the Magdalena spelling is standard, such as Poland, Spain and Germany.
- Also Del.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alyssa if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlyssa is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowAlyssa is stepping back from its peak
Choose Madeleine if you want…
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 83% for Alyssa
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
Alyssa
Strengths
- Pronunciation is obvious to English speakers on sight — no one has to be taught how to say it.
- Belongs to the Alice and Alicia family, so it connects easily across English, Spanish, French and Polish.
- Has established short forms already in real use: Aly, Lyssa, Lissa.
To consider
- The spelling competes with Alissa, Alisa, Alysa and Alyssia. Expect to spell it aloud fairly often, though 'Alyssa with a y' settles it quickly.
- It is closely tied to one generation of Americans now in adulthood, which is why it can read as recent rather than classic — and why a child named Alyssa is unlikely to share a classroom with another.
- The flower etymology, if you like it, comes with an odd literal sense — Greek for 'without madness', from a plant once used against rabies. Charming as a footnote, less so if you want a meaning that stands alone.
Madeleine
Strengths
- Recognizable in French, Spanish, Italian, German and Polish through its close cousins Madeleine, Magdalena and Maddalena.
- A documented line running from the Gospels through medieval Latin and French to the present, with no gap.
- Familiar to nearly everyone without being crowded — most classrooms will have just the one.
To consider
- The -eine ending will be respelled Madeline or Madelyn by people writing it down for the rest of her life. Most Madeleines learn to spell it aloud without thinking about it.
- Three pronunciations circulate in English and none is wrong, so she will hear all of them and choose her own.
- Maddie is shared with Madison, Madelyn and Madeline, so the nickname is considerably more common in a schoolyard than the full name is.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alyssa
83%chance Alyssa feels dated by 2040
Alyssa is coming down from a big peak (#11 in 1998). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Madeleine
40%chance Madeleine feels dated by 2040
Madeleine 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 Alyssa and Madeleine in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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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
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Generation Z names (born 1997–2012)
- all guides
Where Alyssa and Madeleine each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alyssa or Madeleine — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alyssa or Madeleine?
- Alyssa, in 2025: Alyssa ranked #453 with 680 babies; Madeleine ranked #454 with 679 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alyssa or Madeleine?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Alyssa moved down 254 places; Madeleine moved down 57 places.
- Which is the older name, Alyssa or Madeleine?
- Alyssa entered the US charts in 1950; Madeleine entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Madeleine is the older name.
- How many people are named Alyssa and Madeleine?
- About 310,000 people named Alyssa are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 39,000 people named Madeleine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alyssas or Madeleines in the classroom?
- Alyssa will almost certainly be the only one in school. Madeleine 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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