Head to head · Girls' names
Macie vs Maddison
#438 vs #438 in 2025
Macie and Maddison share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#438). 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
The tape is even: Macie and Maddison each lead 2 measures of 6.
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: Macie #883, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1890s: Macie #749, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1900s: Macie #675, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1910s: Macie #724, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1920s: Macie #909, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1930s: Macie #1174, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1940s: Macie #1960, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1950s: Macie #3267, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1960s: Macie #4445, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1970s: Macie #4152, Maddison — — Macie higher
- 1980s: Macie #3595, Maddison #3830 — Macie higher
- 1990s: Macie #895, Maddison #856 — Maddison higher
- 2000s: Macie #458, Maddison #428 — Maddison higher
- 2010s: Macie #426, Maddison #349 — Maddison higher
- 2020s: Macie #495, Maddison #480 — Maddison higher
Macie stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Maddison has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Macie | Maddison |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #883 | — |
| 1890s | #749 | — |
| 1900s | #675 | — |
| 1910s | #724 | — |
| 1920s | #909 | — |
| 1930s | #1174 | — |
| 1940s | #1960 | — |
| 1950s | #3267 | — |
| 1960s | #4445 | — |
| 1970s | #4152 | — |
| 1980s | #3595 | #3830 |
| 1990s | #895 | #856 |
| 2000s | #458 | #428 |
| 2010s | #426 | #349 |
| 2020s | #495 | #480 |
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
Macie
Either "from Macy" (a place in Normandy) or a medieval pet form of Matthew, "gift of God"
Macy the surname has two respectable origins that scholars have never fully separated. One traces it to Norman place names such as Macy and Massy, built on the Gallo-Roman personal name Maccius. The other traces it to Mace, an English short form of Mahieu — the Norman French version of Matthew, from Hebrew Mattityahu, "gift of God." Both roads end at the same surname, and the given name inherits both.
Mace → Macey → Macy → Macie
How it traveled
The name arrived in English as a surname carried by Norman families after the Conquest, spelled Macy, Macey and Massey among others, and it stayed a surname for centuries. American parents began borrowing surnames as girls' first names in earnest in the twentieth century, and Macy joined that group; Macie is the respelling that makes the pronunciation obvious on paper.
Maddison
son of Maud
The surname comes from a medieval pet form, Madde, plus "son". Surname scholars disagree over which name Madde stood for: most read it as Maud (from Matilda), while others allow Magdalen or the men's name Matthew. All three readings are serious; the "son of Maud" line is the most widely given.
Matilda → Maud → Madde → Maddison
How it traveled
The surname Maddison is recorded in medieval England, concentrated in Durham and Northumberland, formed the ordinary way — a first name plus "son". It stayed a surname for centuries, worn in Britain and carried to America, where the single-d Madison also became a well-known political and street name.
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
Macie
MAY-see
Stress on the first syllable. The -ie ending signals the see sound clearly, which is much of why this spelling exists.
- Mace — The oldest layer of the name itself, used informally; also stands alone as a surname-style name.
- Mae — Informal, drawn from the first syllable; a long-established given name in its own right.
- Macie Mae — A double-name pairing in real use, especially in the American South.
Maddison
MAD-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. The doubled d changes nothing about how it is said — Maddison and Madison are heard identically.
- Maddie — The default short form, used from toddlerhood onward and often kept into adult life; also given as a standalone name.
- Maddy — Same sound, the other common spelling; which one sticks usually depends on the family.
- Mads — Informal, mostly between friends and siblings.
- Addie — Less common route, taken from the middle of the name rather than the front.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Macie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 91 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMacie is 2 syllables to Maddison's 3
Choose Maddison if you want…
- a name holding steadyMaddison is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itMaddison runs 3 syllables, Macie 2
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
Macie
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds — an American reader gets MAY-see right on the first try, with no coaching.
- Two short syllables, easy to call across a yard and easy for a small child to say and write.
- On record in the United States for well over a century, so it is a new-feeling spelling with old roots behind it.
To consider
- Macy, Maci, Macey and Macie all circulate, and none of them is the default. Anyone with this name will spend a lifetime saying "with an i-e at the end," and will get the other spellings on mail and coffee cups.
- Macy's, the department store, is known everywhere in the United States. The spellings differ, but the sound does not, and the association will come up.
- Nearly everyone carrying this spelling is a child or teenager, so it reads as distinctly contemporary rather than as a name passed down. That may be exactly the point, or worth a second thought.
Maddison
Strengths
- Pronounced correctly on sight by nearly everyone, since the sound is already familiar from the surname and the single-d spelling.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Maddie, that has been in use for generations and also works as a name on its own.
- A genuine English surname with a documented medieval record, not a modern coinage.
To consider
- The single-d Madison is the spelling most Americans assume, so expect a lifetime of gentle correction on forms, emails and coffee cups.
- Maddie is shared with Madeline, Madelyn, Madison and more, so the nickname will be far more crowded than the full name — worth knowing if the appeal is rarity.
- Almost everyone carrying it is still young, which ties the name fairly clearly to one stretch of time rather than to a long line of grandmothers and great-aunts.
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 Macie and Maddison 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 Macie and Maddison?
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 these names appear on
- Quiet perennials: a century old, never popular
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- all guides
Where Macie and Maddison each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Macie or Maddison — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Macie or Maddison?
- They tie in 2025: Macie ranked #438 with 703 babies; Maddison ranked #438 with 703 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Macie or Maddison?
- Macie. Over the last five years Macie moved up 91 places; Maddison moved up 36 places.
- Which is the older name, Macie or Maddison?
- Macie entered the US charts in 1882; Maddison entered the US charts in 1985. On the American record, Macie is the older name.
- How many people are named Macie and Maddison?
- About 21,000 people named Macie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 24,000 people named Maddison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Macies or Maddisons in the classroom?
- Macie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Maddison 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 Macie, Maddison and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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