Head to head · Girls' names
Maddison vs Mariah
#438 vs #447 in 2025
Maddison is a whisker ahead (#438 vs #447 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maddison is holding its place on the charts, Mariah 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
The tape is even: Maddison and Mariah each lead 3 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: Maddison —, Mariah #438 — Mariah higher
- 1890s: Maddison —, Mariah #586 — Mariah higher
- 1900s: Maddison —, Mariah #799 — Mariah higher
- 1910s: Maddison —, Mariah #1116 — Mariah higher
- 1920s: Maddison —, Mariah #1597 — Mariah higher
- 1930s: Maddison —, Mariah #1893 — Mariah higher
- 1940s: Maddison —, Mariah #2635 — Mariah higher
- 1950s: Maddison —, Mariah #3775 — Mariah higher
- 1960s: Maddison —, Mariah #3777 — Mariah higher
- 1970s: Maddison —, Mariah #1037 — Mariah higher
- 1980s: Maddison #3830, Mariah #559 — Mariah higher
- 1990s: Maddison #856, Mariah #89 — Mariah higher
- 2000s: Maddison #428, Mariah #94 — Mariah higher
- 2010s: Maddison #349, Mariah #156 — Mariah higher
- 2020s: Maddison #480, Mariah #373 — Mariah higher
Mariah stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maddison | Mariah |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #438 |
| 1890s | — | #586 |
| 1900s | — | #799 |
| 1910s | — | #1116 |
| 1920s | — | #1597 |
| 1930s | — | #1893 |
| 1940s | — | #2635 |
| 1950s | — | #3775 |
| 1960s | — | #3777 |
| 1970s | — | #1037 |
| 1980s | #3830 | #559 |
| 1990s | #856 | #89 |
| 2000s | #428 | #94 |
| 2010s | #349 | #156 |
| 2020s | #480 | #373 |
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
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.
Mariah
From Hebrew Miryam — most often read as "bitter," "beloved," or "rebellious"
Miryam is one of the oldest genuinely unsettled names in the Bible. The traditional Hebrew reading connects it to a root for bitterness; another long-standing reading gives "rebellious"; a third, favored by many modern scholars, traces it to the Egyptian element mry, "beloved," since Miriam appears in the Exodus narrative in an Egyptian setting. No one reading has won.
Miryam → Mariam → Maria → Mariah
How it traveled
The line begins with Miryam, sister of Moses in the Hebrew Bible, which the Greek translators rendered Mariam and Maria, and Latin carried onward as Maria — the name of Jesus's mother and, through her, one of the most widely given names in the Christian world. English took Maria in and pronounced it muh-RYE-uh, the ordinary reading in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and Mariah is simply that pronunciation written down.
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
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.
Mariah
muh-RYE-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle, which rhymes with "eye." The final h is silent and does the work of signaling that middle sound — Maria without it is usually read muh-REE-uh.
- Mari — The most common short form; also used as a standalone given name in Welsh and Norwegian.
- Ria — Informal, drawn from the end of the name; stands alone as a given name in Dutch and German.
- Riah — Informal, keeps the h of the full spelling.
- Mia — Informal shortening; very well established as an independent name in its own right.
- Also Ree.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Maddison if you want…
- a name on the way upup 36 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalMaddison entered the US charts in 1985
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 73% for Mariah
Choose Mariah if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMariah is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordMariah was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that feels very nowMariah is stepping back from its peak
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
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.
Mariah
Strengths
- The spelling tells people how to say it: the h steers readers to muh-RYE-uh rather than muh-REE-uh.
- Belongs to one of the largest name families in the world — Maria, Marie, Miriam, Maryam — so relatives in almost any language have a version of it.
- Unbroken presence in American records since the nineteenth century, so it reads as familiar rather than newly coined.
To consider
- One singer has been so closely tied to this spelling since the 1990s that many people will mention her. That association is warm rather than awkward, but it comes up.
- Mariah and Maria will be swapped for each other on forms and in speech for life. Expect to correct both the letter and the vowel fairly often.
- Its strongest years were recent enough that the name currently sits with young adults more than with newborns — a child named Mariah is likely to be the only one in her class while meeting grown women who share it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Maddison
40%chance Maddison feels dated by 2040
Maddison 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.
Mariah
73%chance Mariah feels dated by 2040
Mariah is coming down from a big peak (#62 in 1998). 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 Maddison and Mariah 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
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Pop star names on birth certificates
- Names that belong entirely to the 1990s
- all guides
Where Maddison and Mariah each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maddison or Mariah — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maddison or Mariah?
- Maddison, in 2025: Maddison ranked #438 with 703 babies; Mariah ranked #447 with 693 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maddison or Mariah?
- Maddison. Over the last five years Maddison moved up 36 places; Mariah moved down 145 places.
- Which is the older name, Maddison or Mariah?
- Maddison entered the US charts in 1985; Mariah was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Mariah is the older name.
- How many people are named Maddison and Mariah?
- About 24,000 people named Maddison are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 112,000 people named Mariah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maddisons or Mariahs in the classroom?
- Maddison will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mariah 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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