Head to head · Girls' names
Ivy vs Madison
#39 vs #40 in 2025
Ivy is a whisker ahead (#39 vs #40 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ivy is climbing the charts fast, Madison is stepping back from its peak.
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, Ivy leads 4 measures of 6; Madison leads 2.
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: Ivy #276, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1890s: Ivy #320, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1900s: Ivy #402, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1910s: Ivy #496, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1920s: Ivy #675, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1930s: Ivy #768, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1940s: Ivy #899, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1950s: Ivy #592, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1960s: Ivy #730, Madison — — Ivy higher
- 1970s: Ivy #632, Madison #8101 — Ivy higher
- 1980s: Ivy #615, Madison #1892 — Ivy higher
- 1990s: Ivy #543, Madison #64 — Madison higher
- 2000s: Ivy #346, Madison #4 — Madison higher
- 2010s: Ivy #155, Madison #13 — Madison higher
- 2020s: Ivy #43, Madison #35 — Madison higher
Ivy stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Madison has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ivy | Madison |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #276 | — |
| 1890s | #320 | — |
| 1900s | #402 | — |
| 1910s | #496 | — |
| 1920s | #675 | — |
| 1930s | #768 | — |
| 1940s | #899 | — |
| 1950s | #592 | — |
| 1960s | #730 | — |
| 1970s | #632 | #8101 |
| 1980s | #615 | #1892 |
| 1990s | #543 | #64 |
| 2000s | #346 | #4 |
| 2010s | #155 | #13 |
| 2020s | #43 | #35 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Ivy
- England & Wales#5
- Scotland#16
- Canada#33
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
Ivy
The ivy plant — the climbing evergreen
From Old English īfig, the ordinary word for the plant, used directly as a name.
īfig (Old English) → ivy (English plant name) → Ivy
How it traveled
Ivy is an English vocabulary name, taken straight from the plant: Old English īfig, a climber that stays green when everything around it has gone bare. Ivy wreaths were worn at the Greek and Roman festivals of Dionysus and Bacchus, and the plant kept a place in English midwinter custom — the traditional carol "The Holly and the Ivy" pairs the two as evergreens of the season.
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
Ivy
EYE-vee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The pronunciation is settled wherever English is spoken, and matches the plant exactly.
- Ivy-Rose — Not a short form but a hyphenated compound in real use in England and Wales, where Ivy is often paired with a second name.
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
Ivy
No documented entry for Ivy yet.
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 Ivy if you want…
- a name on the way upup 18 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesIvy is 2 syllables to Madison's 3
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Ivy (Ivy-Rose)
- a name that charts abroad tooIvy is on the national lists of England & Wales, Scotland and Canada
Choose Madison if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMadison is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itMadison runs 3 syllables, Ivy 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Maddie, Maddy and Mads
- 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
Ivy
Strengths
- Spelled the way the English word is spelled, so most people write it correctly on the first try.
- One settled pronunciation across every English-speaking country, with no regional variants to correct.
- Short enough to need no nickname, and it sits easily beside longer or more formal middle names.
To consider
- It is rising quickly, so a child born now is likely to meet more Ivys among her classmates than the current figures suggest.
- There is no natural short form and no long formal version to retreat to. Ivy is what she will be called in every register, from the playground to a résumé.
- The word carries other associations — the Ivy League, poison ivy — that children notice and joke about, usually briefly.
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.
How each is likely to age
Ivy
53%chance Ivy feels dated by 2040
Ivy is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Madison
85%chance Madison feels dated by 2040
Madison is coming down from a big peak (#2 in 2001). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Ivy 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 Ivy and Madison?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Ivy and Madison — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ivy or Madison — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ivy or Madison?
- Ivy, in 2025: Ivy ranked #39 with 5,117 babies; Madison ranked #40 with 4,945 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ivy or Madison?
- Ivy. Over the last five years Ivy moved up 18 places; Madison moved down 17 places.
- Which is the older name, Ivy or Madison?
- Ivy was already in use when US records began in 1880; Madison entered the US charts in 1970. On the American record, Ivy is the older name.
- How many people are named Ivy and Madison?
- About 76,000 people named Ivy 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 Ivys or Madisons in the classroom?
- Ivy 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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