Head to head · Boys' names
Madden vs Vincenzo
#675 vs #674 in 2025
Vincenzo is a whisker ahead (#674 vs #675 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Vincenzo is holding its place on the charts, Madden is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Madden 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, Vincenzo leads 4 measures of 6; Madden 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
- 1900s: Madden —, Vincenzo #983 — Vincenzo higher
- 1910s: Madden —, Vincenzo #1001 — Vincenzo higher
- 1920s: Madden —, Vincenzo #1657 — Vincenzo higher
- 1930s: Madden —, Vincenzo #2837 — Vincenzo higher
- 1940s: Madden —, Vincenzo #3244 — Vincenzo higher
- 1950s: Madden —, Vincenzo #3117 — Vincenzo higher
- 1960s: Madden —, Vincenzo #1383 — Vincenzo higher
- 1970s: Madden —, Vincenzo #985 — Vincenzo higher
- 1980s: Madden —, Vincenzo #1107 — Vincenzo higher
- 1990s: Madden #8871, Vincenzo #1039 — Vincenzo higher
- 2000s: Madden #2819, Vincenzo #961 — Vincenzo higher
- 2010s: Madden #649, Vincenzo #796 — Madden higher
- 2020s: Madden #717, Vincenzo #716 — Vincenzo higher
Vincenzo stood higher in 12 of 13 decades; Vincenzo took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Madden | Vincenzo |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | — | #983 |
| 1910s | — | #1001 |
| 1920s | — | #1657 |
| 1930s | — | #2837 |
| 1940s | — | #3244 |
| 1950s | — | #3117 |
| 1960s | — | #1383 |
| 1970s | — | #985 |
| 1980s | — | #1107 |
| 1990s | #8871 | #1039 |
| 2000s | #2819 | #961 |
| 2010s | #649 | #796 |
| 2020s | #717 | #716 |
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
Madden
descendant of Madadhán — a pet form of the Irish word madadh, 'hound'
Madadhán was an Irish personal name built from madadh, 'dog' or 'hound', with a diminutive ending; the surname Ó Madadháin means the descendants of that man. The related sept name Ó Madagáin gives us Madigan by the same route.
Madadhán → Ó Madadháin → Ó Madáin → Madden
How it traveled
The Ó Madadháin were a sept of Uí Maine, in the country around the Galway–Offaly borders, and their name appears in Irish records long before English spelling reduced it to Madden. Under English administration the Ó and the interior syllables fell away, leaving the compact form used today, and Irish emigration carried it across the Atlantic in the nineteenth century as a family name in the ordinary way.
Vincenzo
conquering
From the Latin Vincentius, a derivative of vincere, 'to conquer' or 'to prevail'.
Vincentius → Vincentio → Vincenzo
How it traveled
The name begins in late Roman Latin as Vincentius, a name chosen by early Christians for its sense of prevailing rather than for any battlefield. It spread through the veneration of Vincent of Saragossa, a deacon martyred in Spain in the early fourth century, and then through later saints who bore the same name in Spain, France and Italy.
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
Madden
MAD-en
Two syllables, stress on the first, rhyming with sadden. Americans, Irish and British speakers all land in the same place, and the spelling gives no trouble on a first reading.
- Mads — The most common everyday shortening; informal, and also stands alone as a Danish men's name in its own right.
- Maddie — Used casually, though it is shared with Madison, Madeline and Madeleine, so it rarely identifies one child in a group.
- Mad — Heard in families and on teams; blunt, and worth thinking about before it sticks.
- Denny — An occasional pull from the second syllable rather than the first; uncommon but it does happen.
Vincenzo
vin-CHEN-zoh
Stress on the middle syllable. In Italian the z is closer to 'ts' — veen-CHEN-tso — and both versions are heard in American families.
- Enzo — The most common short form today; also widely registered as a given name in its own right.
- Vince — Informal, shared with the English Vincent; used across generations.
- Vinny — Informal and long established in Italian-American families; also spelled Vinnie.
- Cenzo — Traditional Italian clipping, heard more in Italy than in the US.
- Also Vincenzino.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Madden if you want…
- a name on the way upup 134 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMadden is 2 syllables to Vincenzo's 3
Choose Vincenzo if you want…
- a name holding steadyVincenzo is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itVincenzo runs 3 syllables, Madden 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
Madden
Strengths
- Reads correctly the first time in English — no spelling-out, no correction, because the surname is already familiar in print.
- A documented Irish line behind it: an identifiable sept, an original personal name, and a cousin surname in Madigan.
- Works unchanged for a boy or a girl; nothing in the name itself has to be adjusted either way.
To consider
- For a great many Americans the word Madden means the football video game and the broadcaster it was named for. That association is strong, mostly affectionate, and unlikely to fade soon — it is the first thing many people will say.
- The first syllable is the word mad, which older children notice. It rarely goes further than a joke, but it is there in the spelling.
- Far more Madden boys than Madden girls are being born, so a girl called Madden will meet the assumption that she is a boy on class lists and forms — correctable, but recurring.
Vincenzo
Strengths
- Comes with several established short forms — Enzo, Vince, Vinny — so a boy has options at every age without inventing anything.
- The English cousin Vincent is familiar to almost everyone, which makes the longer spelling readable on sight even to people who have never met one.
- An unbroken written record from late Roman Latin to the present, with recognized forms in Italian, Spanish, French, German and Polish.
To consider
- The z is the sticking point: Italian says roughly 'ts', American English usually says 'z'. Both are in real use, so decide early which one you will correct people to — or accept both.
- Expect occasional misspellings, most often Vincenzio or Vincenso, and expect to spell it out on the phone.
- Vinny carries strong Italian-American associations from film and television, warm to some ears and a stereotype to others. Enzo and Vince sidestep it easily.
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 Madden and Vincenzo 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 Madden and Vincenzo?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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
- Borrowed from the girls: names boys are taking back
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Names with a Z in them
- Italian names Americans adore
- all guides
Where Madden and Vincenzo each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Madden or Vincenzo — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Madden or Vincenzo?
- Vincenzo, in 2025: Vincenzo ranked #674 with 403 babies; Madden ranked #675 with 402 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Madden or Vincenzo?
- Madden. Over the last five years Madden moved up 134 places; Vincenzo moved up 60 places.
- Which is the older name, Madden or Vincenzo?
- Madden entered the US charts in 1997; Vincenzo entered the US charts in 1900. On the American record, Vincenzo is the older name.
- How many people are named Madden and Vincenzo?
- About 7,600 people named Madden are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,700 people named Vincenzo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maddens or Vincenzos in the classroom?
- Madden will almost certainly be the only one in school. Vincenzo 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 Madden, Vincenzo and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap