Head to head · Girls' names
Josie vs Madeline
#82 vs #81 in 2025
Madeline is a whisker ahead (#81 vs #82 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Madeline is back after a long quiet spell, Josie is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Josie 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, Madeline leads 4 measures of 6; Josie 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: Josie #129, Madeline #314 — Josie higher
- 1890s: Josie #170, Madeline #182 — Josie higher
- 1900s: Josie #216, Madeline #146 — Madeline higher
- 1910s: Josie #290, Madeline #129 — Madeline higher
- 1920s: Josie #327, Madeline #154 — Madeline higher
- 1930s: Josie #343, Madeline #209 — Madeline higher
- 1940s: Josie #401, Madeline #220 — Madeline higher
- 1950s: Josie #590, Madeline #346 — Madeline higher
- 1960s: Josie #712, Madeline #446 — Madeline higher
- 1970s: Josie #712, Madeline #611 — Madeline higher
- 1980s: Josie #710, Madeline #494 — Madeline higher
- 1990s: Josie #467, Madeline #103 — Madeline higher
- 2000s: Josie #304, Madeline #61 — Madeline higher
- 2010s: Josie #232, Madeline #92 — Madeline higher
- 2020s: Josie #110, Madeline #93 — Madeline higher
Madeline stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Madeline has held the lead since the 1900s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Josie | Madeline |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #129 | #314 |
| 1890s | #170 | #182 |
| 1900s | #216 | #146 |
| 1910s | #290 | #129 |
| 1920s | #327 | #154 |
| 1930s | #343 | #209 |
| 1940s | #401 | #220 |
| 1950s | #590 | #346 |
| 1960s | #712 | #446 |
| 1970s | #712 | #611 |
| 1980s | #710 | #494 |
| 1990s | #467 | #103 |
| 2000s | #304 | #61 |
| 2010s | #232 | #92 |
| 2020s | #110 | #93 |
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
Josie
"He will add" — from the Hebrew name Yosef, by way of Josephine
The meaning belongs to the root: Hebrew Yosef, understood as "he will add" or "God will add." Josie inherits it through the French feminine Joséphine, and through Spanish Josefina and Josefa, where it also serves as the everyday short form.
Yosef → Joseph → Joséphine → Josephine → Josie
How it traveled
The line starts with Yosef in the Hebrew Bible, reaches Latin and Greek as Ioseph, and spreads across Christian Europe as Joseph. Feminine forms grew from it in the Romance languages — French Joséphine, Spanish Josefina, Italian Giuseppina — and Joséphine gained enormous currency in France after Napoleon's first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, was crowned empress in the early nineteenth century.
Madeline
from Magdala, a town on the Sea of Galilee
The name is a byname turned given name: Magdalene meant 'the woman from Magdala'. The place name itself is generally traced to a Hebrew and Aramaic root meaning 'tower'.
Magdala → Magdalēnē → Magdalena → Madeleine → Madeline
How it traveled
The name begins as a description rather than a name. Greek translators of the Christian scriptures rendered the Aramaic byname of Mary of Magdala as Magdalēnē, and Latin carried it on as Magdalena.
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
Josie
JOH-zee
A voiced middle consonant is the usual American pronunciation; JOH-see is heard too, and both pass without comment. Spanish speakers reading the first syllables may reach for José at first glance.
- Josie — Already a short form of Josephine, and now most often the full legal name rather than a nickname.
- Jo — The standard further shortening; also a standalone given name in its own right, and shared with Joanna, Joan and Josephine.
- Josephine — Used in reverse — some families register the long form and use Josie daily, keeping a formal option in hand.
- Joey — Informal, and used for both sexes in American English, most often heard within families.
Madeline
MAD-uh-lin
Also said MAD-uh-line, with the last syllable rhyming with 'line'. Both are established in the United States, so expect to state your preference now and then. The French Madeleine is mad-uh-LEN.
- Maddie — By far the most common short form in American use; also given as a standalone name, and shared with Madison, Madelyn and Matilda.
- Maddy — The same nickname, spelled the other way; families tend to pick one and keep it.
- Mads — Informal and clipped, mostly among friends and siblings rather than adults.
- Lena — Drawn from the Magdalena end of the family; used more in continental Europe than in the US, and a full name in its own right.
- Also Made.
Who has carried each name
Josie
No documented entry for Josie yet.
Madeline
Madeline Kahn (b. 1942) — Comic genius of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein
Madeline Miller (b. 1978) — Wrote Circe and The Song of Achilles
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 Josie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 52 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesJosie is 2 syllables to Madeline's 3
- a name that feels very nowJosie is climbing the charts fast
Choose Madeline if you want…
- a name with more sound in itMadeline runs 3 syllables, Josie 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 30% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 55% for Josie
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
Josie
Strengths
- Both a nickname and a full name, so it works on a birth certificate and needs no shortening — while Josephine remains available as a formal expansion.
- A continuous presence in American records from the beginning of national name-keeping, so it reads as familiar rather than newly coined.
- Spelled the way it sounds for English speakers, and short enough to write early.
To consider
- It is rising, not resting. A name that feels uncommon now can be noticeably more common by the time a child reaches middle school.
- Josey, Josi and Josey-with-a-y all circulate, so expect to spell it aloud occasionally — though the -ie ending is the one most people default to.
- It shares its Jo- opening with Joanna, Joan, Jolene and Joy, which can mean a beat of clarification in a room where several are present.
Madeline
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone can read on sight, even where the -lyn and -leine variants compete.
- An unbroken record in American name statistics from the earliest years of the data to the present, with no long gap.
- Maddie is instantly understood as its short form, so a formal name and a casual one come together.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate, MAD-uh-lin and MAD-uh-line. Neither is wrong, which means correcting people is a lifelong small errand.
- Maddie is a busy nickname, shared with Madison, Madelyn and Matilda. Any given classroom may hold several Maddies and only one Madeline.
- Madeleine, Madelyn, Madalyn and Madilyn all sound alike, so the spelling will be asked for and sometimes still guessed wrong.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Josie
55%chance Josie feels dated by 2040
Josie 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.
Madeline
30%chance Madeline feels dated by 2040
Madeline is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
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 Josie and Madeline 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 Josie and Madeline?
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
Every list here names both Josie and Madeline — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Josie or Madeline — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Josie or Madeline?
- Madeline, in 2025: Madeline ranked #81 with 3,086 babies; Josie ranked #82 with 3,021 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Josie or Madeline?
- Josie. Over the last five years Josie moved up 52 places; Madeline moved up 15 places.
- Which is the older name, Josie or Madeline?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Josie and Madeline?
- About 57,000 people named Josie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 160,000 people named Madeline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Josies or Madelines in the classroom?
- Josie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Madeline 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Josie, Madeline and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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